RESTRICTED  
  
WT/TPR/S/337  
23 March 2016  
(16-1653)  Page: 1/119  
Trade Policy Review Body   
 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW 
REPORT BY THE SECRETARIAT 
ALBANIA  
This report, prepared for the second Trade Policy Review of Albania, has been drawn up by the 
WTO Secretariat on its own responsibility. The Se cretariat has, as required by the Agreement 
establishing the Trade Policy Review Mech anism (Annex 3 of the Marrakesh Agreement 
Establishing the World Trade Organization), sought clarification from Albania on its trade policies 
and practices.  Any technical questions arising from this report may be addressed to Masahiro Hayafuji (tel: 022 
739 5873); and Pierre Latrille (tel: 022 739 5266). 
 Document WT/TPR/G/337 contains the policy statement submitted by Albania. 
 
 
Note: This report is subject to restricted circulation and press embargo until the end of the first 
session of the meeting of the Trade Policy Review  Body on Albania. This report was drafted in 
English. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  CONTENTS 
SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................... . 6 
1   ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT ........................................................................................ 10  
1.1   Recent Econ omic Developments.................................................................................. 10 
1.2   Fisca l Policy ........................................................................................................... .. 12 
1.3   Monetary and Ex change Rate  Policy ............................................................................ 13 
1.4   Balance of Payments ................................................................................................. 13 
1.5   Developments in Trade and In vestment ....................................................................... 14 
1.5.1   Developments in merchand ise trade ......................................................................... 14 
1.5.2   Composit ion of trade .............................................................................................. 14 
1.5.3   Direction of trade ................................................................................................... 15 
1.5.4   Trade in services ................................................................................................... 17 
1.6   Foreign Dire ct Invest ment ......................................................................................... 17 
2   TRADE AND INVE STMENT RE GIME ............................................................................ 20  
2.1   Genera l Framework .................................................................................................. 20 
2.1.1   Institut ional framework .......................................................................................... 20 
2.1.2   Trade policy formul ation and impl ementation ............................................................. 21 
2.2   Trade Poli cy Objectives ............................................................................................. 22 
2.3   Trade Agreements and Arrangements .......................................................................... 22 
2.3.1   WTO ................................................................................................................... . 22 
2.3.2   Regional and pr eferential agreements ....................................................................... 25 
2.4   Investme nt Regime .................................................................................................. 26 
3   TRADE POLICIES AND PRACTICES BY MEASURE ........................................................ 31  
3.1   Measures Direct ly Affectin g Imports ............................................................................ 31 
3.1.1   Customs procedur es and requirements ..................................................................... 31 
3.1.2   Custom s valuation ................................................................................................. 34 
3.1.3   Rules of origin .......................................................................................................  34 
3.1.4   Tariffs ............................................................................................................... ... 35 
3.1.4.1   Applied tariffs .....................................................................................................  35 
3.1.4.2   Tari ff bindings .................................................................................................... 37 
3.1.4.3   Tariff preferences ................................................................................................ 37 
3.1.5   Other charge s affecting imports ............................................................................... 38 
3.1.5.1   Value-added tax (VAT) ......................................................................................... 38 
3.1.5.2   Ex cise tax ..........................................................................................................  39 
3.1.6   Import prohibitions, restrictions, an d licensing ........................................................... 42 
3.1.6.1   Import prohibitions ............................................................................................. 42 
3.1.6.2   Import licensing .................................................................................................. 43 
3.1.7   Anti-dumping, countervai ling, and safegu ard measures ............................................... 46 
3.1.7.1   Anti-dumping and countervailing measures ............................................................. 46 
3.1.7.2   Safeguards ........................................................................................................ 46 WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  3.1.8   Standards and othe r technical requirements .............................................................. 47 
3.1.8.1   Technical regulations ........................................................................................... 47 
3.1.8.1.1   Transparency ................................................................................................... 47 
3.1.8.1.2   Implementation ............................................................................................... 48 
3.1.8.2   Standards .......................................................................................................... 50 
3.1.9   Sanitary and phyt osanitary requ irements .................................................................. 51 
3.1.9.1   Tr ansparen cy ..................................................................................................... 51 
3.1.9.2   Implementation .................................................................................................. 51 
3.1.10   Othe r measures ................................................................................................... 53 
3.2   Measures Directly Affecting Exports ............................................................................. 53 
3.2.1   Export procedur es and requirements ........................................................................ 53 
3.2.2   Export taxes, charges, an d levies ............................................................................. 53 
3.2.3   Export prohibitions, restrictions, and licensing ............................................................ 53 
3.2.4   Export suppo rt and pr omotion ................................................................................. 53 
3.2.5   Export finance, insurance and guarantees ................................................................. 54 
3.3   Measures Affectin g Production and Trade ..................................................................... 55 
3.3.1   Legal fram ework for business .................................................................................. 55 
3.3.2   In centives ............................................................................................................  56 
3.3.3   Competition policy and price controls ........................................................................ 58 
3.3.4   State trading, state-owned enterprises, and privatization ............................................. 61 
3.3.5   Governme nt procurement ....................................................................................... 62 
3.3.6   Intellectual property rights ...................................................................................... 65 
3.3.6.1   Overview ........................................................................................................... 65 
3.3.6.2   Legal and in stitutional framework .......................................................................... 67 
3.3.6.2.1   Indust rial property ........................................................................................... 67 
3.3.6.2.2   Copyright ........................................................................................................ 71 
3.3.6.3   Enforcement ....................................................................................................... 72 
4   TRADE POLICIES BY SECTOR ..................................................................................... 74  
4.1   Agriculture ............................................................................................................. . 74 
4.1.1   Genera l features .................................................................................................... 74 
4.1.2   Legal and polic y making fr amework .......................................................................... 75 
4.1.3   Border and related measures ................................................................................... 75 
4.1.4   Export subsidies .................................................................................................... 76 
4.1.5   Domestic support me asures .................................................................................... 76 
4.2   Mining and Energy .................................................................................................... 77 
4.2.1   Mining .................................................................................................................. 77 
4.2.2   Energy ................................................................................................................ . 78 
4.2.2.1   Statistical overview ............................................................................................. 78 
4.2.2.2   Oil ................................................................................................................. ... 78 
4.2.2.3   Gas ................................................................................................................... 79 WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  4.2.2.4   Electricity ........................................................................................................... 80 
4.2.2.5   Renewable energies ............................................................................................ 81 
4.3   Manuf acturi ng .......................................................................................................... 81 
4.4   Telecommunica tion services ....................................................................................... 83 
4.5   Financia l services ..................................................................................................... 86 
4.6   Maritime tr ansport se rvices ........................................................................................ 95 
4.7   Air transp ort serv ices ................................................................................................ 97 
4.8   Road tran sport serv ices ............................................................................................. 99 
REFERENC ES ................................................................................................................ 102  
5   APPENDIX TABLES .................................................................................................. 104  
 
CHARTS 
 Chart 1.1 Composition of merchandise trade by HS sectio n, 2010 an d 2014  ............................. 15
 
Chart 1.2 Direction of merchandise trade, 2010 and 2014 ...................................................... 16 
 
TABLES 
 
Table 1.1 Basic economic  indicators , 2010- 14 ...................................................................... 10 
Table 1.2 GDP by econ omic activi ty, 2010- 14 ...................................................................... 11 
Table 1.3 Balance of paymen ts of Albani a, 2010- 14 .............................................................. 13 
Table 1.4 Trade in services, 2010-2014 ............................................................................... 17 
Table 1.5 FDI flows in Albania, 2013-2014 ........................................................................... 17 
Table 1.6 FDI stock in Albania by economic ac tivity, 2010-14 ................................................. 18 
Table 1.7 FDI stock in Al bania by orig in, 2010- 2014 ............................................................. 19 
Table 2.1 Notifications to the WTO,  January 2010 to De cember 2015 ...................................... 23 
Table 2.2 Economic and Technical Cooperatio n Agreements signed by Albania,  2010-14............. 25 
Table 2.3 World Bank 'doing business' indicato rs for Albania, and th eir recent evolution ............. 26 
Table 3.1 Structure of MFN tariffs in Al bania,  2015 ............................................................... 35 
Table 3.2 Albania's applie d MFN tariff summary , 2015 ........................................................... 36 
Table 3.3 Albania's preferential tariff summary, 2015 ............................................................ 37 
Table 3.4 Excise  taxes,  2015  ............................................................................................. 39 
Table 3.5 Products subject to import li censing requirements, December 2015 ........................... 43 
Table 3.6 Laws, decisions, and orders govern ing implementation of the TBT Agreement, 
December 2015 ............................................................................................................... 48 
Table 3.7 Technical regulations in place, December 2015 ....................................................... 49 
Table 3.8 Conventions and treaties on intellec tual property rights to which Albania is a 
party, December 2015 ...................................................................................................... 67 
Table 3.9 Overview of IPR protecti on, 2015  ......................................................................... 68 
Table 4.1 Exports of agricultural products (WTO definition) by main trading partners, 2014 ........ 74 
Table 4.2 Imports of agricultural products (W TO definition) by main trading partners, 2014 ........ 76 
Table 4.3 Albania's mineral re serves ................................................................................... 77 WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  Table 4.4 Mining licences grante d by type of production ........................................................ 77 
Table 4.5 Albania production, import s and exports of energy fo r 2013 ..................................... 78 
Table 4.6 Total final energetic co nsumption by se ctor fo r 2013 ............................................... 78 
Table 4.7 Contribution to GDP and employ ment of the manufacturing sector, 2010-14 ............... 82 
Table 4.8 Albania's trade by in dustry (ISIC Re v.4), 2010 -14 .................................................. 82 
Table 4.9 Main economic data for ma ritime transport in  Albania (2015)  ................................... 95 
Table 4.10 Cargo traffic in Albanian port s, 2010-20 14 ........................................................... 96 
Table 4.11 Passenger traffic in Albanian ports (2010-2014) .................................................... 96 
Table 4.12 Albania's plurilateral and bilatera l air services agreements and their main 
characteri stics ............................................................................................................... .. 99 
Table 4.13 Quotas negotiated in the framew ork of the bilateral agreements for 2015 ............... 101  
 
BOXES 
 
Box 4.1 Main economic characteristics for the telecommunication sector in Albania ................... 83 
Box 4.2 Regulatory framework for telecommunication services in Albania ................................. 84 
Box 4.3 Financial services: statistical overview ..................................................................... 86 
Box 4.4 Regulatory fr amework for banking .......................................................................... 87 
Box 4.5 Regulatory framework for insurance ........................................................................ 90 
Box 4.6 Regulatory regime for securities and stock exchanges, 2012 ....................................... 92 
Box 4.7 Regulatory framewor k for mutual funds, 2012 .......................................................... 94 
Box 4.8 Regulatory framewor k for pension funds, 2012 ......................................................... 94 
Box 4.9 Maritime Transpor t Regulatory Framework ............................................................... 96 
Box 4.10 Main economic data and regulato ry framework for av iation services ........................... 97 
Box 4.11 Main economic indicators of road transport ............................................................. 99 
Box 4.12 Road transport regulatory framework .................................................................... 99 
 
APPENDIX TABLES 
 Table A1.1 Merchandise exports by HS chapter,  2010-2014 ................................................. 104
 
Table A1.2 Merchandise imports by HS chapter,  2010-2014  ................................................. 105  
Table A1.3 Merchandise exports by destination,  2010-2014  ................................................. 106  
Table A1.4 Merchandise imports by origin, 2010-2014 ......................................................... 107  
 
Table A3.1 MFN tariff averages by HS 2-digit level, 2015 ..................................................... 108  
Table A3.2 Tariff lines with applied MFN ta riffs exceeding the bo und rates, 2015 ..................... 112  
Table A3.3 Tariff quotas of agricultural produc ts based on preferential trade agreements to 
which Albania is  a party .................................................................................................. 113  
Table A3.4 State-owned companies in Albania .................................................................... 118  
 WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  SUMMARY 
1. During the period under review (2010-15), Albania's economic growth weakened up until 
2013; since 2014, however, economic recovery appears to be under way. Per capita GDP reached around US$4,562 in 2014, up from US$4,086 in 2010. Inflation has been declining since 2010, 
reaching 1.6% in 2014 (down from 3.6% in 2010). The unemployment rate increased to 17.5% in 
2014, up from 14.0% in 2010. The current account deficit increased to 12.9% of GDP in 2014, compared with 11.3% in 2010.     
2. The Albanian economy is mainly driven by a growing services sector, which accounted for 
around 52.3% of GDP in 2014, up from 50.7% in 2010. On the other hand, the manufacturing sector remains small, contributing 5.6% to GDP in 2014. Agriculture accounted for around 47.9% of total employment in 2014, while its share of GDP was just around 14%. Thus, labour 
productivity in agriculture is lower than in other sectors.  
3. Fiscal policy in 2014 was expansionary, with a growth of expenditure and a resulting 
increase in the budget deficit. Albania's monetary  policy has been accommodative in recent years. 
The main objective of Albania's monetary policy is to achieve and maintain price stability. The 
Bank of Albania (BOA) aims at achieving this objective through targeting an inflation rate at 3% over the medium term. Albania has been operatin g under a floating exchange rate regime since 
1992.  
4. There have been no substantial changes to the Albanian institutional framework since its last 
review in 2010. Judicial reform remains one of the Government's key objectives, notably with a 
view to Albania's candidacy to the European Union, as this is one of the criteria closely monitored 
in that respect and several reforms have b een adopted during the period under review. 
5. The Ministry of Economic Development, Tour ism, Trade and Entrepreneurship has overall 
responsibility for the formulation of trade policy.  A number of other ministries and agencies have 
policy-making responsibilities in trade-related areas. The institutional framework of trade policy 
coordination is being revamped with the recent or ongoing establishment of three new bodies: the National Committee for Trade Policy Coordination and Facilitation, the National Economic Council, 
and the Investment Council. 
6. A business and investment strategy has recently been adopted and is itself part of the wider 
national development and integration strategy, whose main aim is the integration in the medium term of Albania within the European Union. The business and investment strategy is therefore 
aligned with the EU industrial policy as reflected by the "Europe 2020" document and the South 
East Europe 2020 strategy. This strategy indicates that Albania's trade policy objectives are guided by WTO principles thereby guaranteeing the absence of quantitative restrictions on imports and 
exports (except in cases of environmental protection  or assistance to fragile industries, cultural 
heritage, forestry and arms and ammunitions), export subsidies, any kind of tax on exports, and export bans. 
7. Albania became a Member of the WTO on 8 September 2000. Its trade policies were 
reviewed for the first time in 2010. Albania grants at least MFN treatment to all its trading partners. Its process of ratification of the Trade Facilitation Agreement is under way. It has co-
sponsored the EU proposal on the Information Technology Agreement. Albania has not been 
involved in any WTO dispute settlement proceedings as a complainant, defendant or third party. 
Since its accession, Albania has submitted numerous notifications covering various WTO topics.  
8. Albania has not extended its network of free trade agreements since its last review; this 
network is composed of: the 2006 Central Euro pean Free Trade Agreement, a 2006 agreement 
with Turkey, and a 2009 agreement with the Europe an Free Trade Association. During this period, 
it has also signed 12 economic and technical cooperation agreements. Albania is entitled to benefit 
from the GSP schemes of Canada, Japan, Norway, Sw itzerland, and the United States. In addition, 
since 2000, Albania (together with other Western Balkan countries) is eligible for preferential treatment in the EU market. 
9. Albania's relationship with the EU rema ins governed by the 2009 Stabilisation and 
Association Agreement (SAA). Albania obtained the status of EU candidate country in June 2014. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  In addition to the institutional structure of the SAA, joint working groups to prepare the accession 
process were established in September 2014. The accession negotiation monitors the approximation process in numerous trade-related areas notably: free movement of goods, free movement of workers, coordination of social secu rity systems, right of establishment and freedom 
to provide services, free movement of capital, public procurement, company law, intellectual 
property law, competition policy, state aids, information society and media policy, agricultural policy, food safety and veterinary and phyto-sani tary policy, fisheries, transport policy, energy, 
taxation, statistics, social policy and employment, enterprise and industrial policy principles, trans-
European networks, environment, consumer and health protection and customs union. 
10. Many issues related to investment have been integrated into the business and investment 
development strategy for 2014-2020. The aims of  this strategy are to achieve long-term 
sustainability of investment by promoting re-investment and expansion of existing investments, 
increasing the share of green-field and export-o riented investments and increasing the share of 
value-added and high-tech investment. 
11. The investment regime has been revamped in 2015 by a new law on strategic investment, 
which foresees new and reinforced fiscal, admini strative, and procedural incentives for both 
national and foreign investors. This law defines as strategic the following sectors: energy and 
mining, transport, infrastructure, electronic communications and urban waste, tourism, agriculture 
and fisheries.  Investments in the "areas of technology and economic development" are also 
defined as strategic investments under the law.  
12. In terms of licensing for both national and foreign investors, Albania adopted a single-
window system in 2009. A reform to eliminate or alleviate many licensing requirements is under 
way. Albania has adopted an e-registration system for businesses operational since February 2015. Public-private partnerships are allowed in many sectors, essentially infrastructural sectors, and 
their legal framework was revised in 2013 so as to reinforce the administrative capacities of the 
Albanian authorities to manage such partnerships.  
13. In Albania, international arbitration decisions related to foreign investments are final and 
irrevocable for the parties in dispute. Albania has 42 bilateral investment treaties in force and 
signed 7 such agreements during the period under review. Albania is also linked by double taxation agreements with 84 States. 
14. A new customs code was adopted on 31 July 2014; certain sections of the code containing 
provisions on, inter alia , authorized economic operators, simplified procedures, and exemption 
from import duties have entered into force. The law was amended in 2015 to allow duty-free shops to be opened at land and maritime borders that are under the supervision and control of Customs. 
The authorities consider that the new customs code is in full compliance with EU legislation. 
Albania submitted its Category A notification under the Agreement on Trade Facilitation (TFA) on 10 September 2014.  
15. The customs code specifies that the transaction value of imported goods should be the 
primary basis to determine customs value. Nonetheless, when a shipment consists of goods with different tariff classifications and treatment and this creates a considerable amount of work and expense, the customs authorities may decide to ap ply the same customs duties to all cargo based 
on the tariff subheading with the highest level of customs duty on import. 
16. Albania has a relatively open trade regime underpinned by its extensive WTO commitments, 
and is not reliant on customs duties for government revenue. Albania's overall simple average MFN 
tariff declined to 4.2% in 2015 (compared with 5.2% in 2009), with the highest applied rate of 
15%. The average applied tariff on agricultural products (WTO definition), at 8.7%, is higher than on non-agricultural products (3.0%). Its average bound tariff is 6.7%. All tariffs are ad valorem . 
Tariff quotas are applied to some imports from Turkey and the EU under preferential tariffs. 
Albania is a signatory to the Information Technology Agreement. Albania has taken no anti-dumping, countervailing, or safeguard measures since its accession to the WTO in September 2000. 
17. Albania applies few non-tariff measures. Import prohibitions are imposed on products that 
are considered to be hazardous to public health. Import licensing is used mainly for SPS purposes, WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  security, protection of the environment, and compliance with obligations under international 
conventions. The Albanian SPS and TBT regimes es sentially follow those of the EU. In September 
2010, the National Food Authority was established; it is responsible for the control and enforcement of the legislation concerning food safety and consumer protection. 
18. No export taxes are applied and licences must be obtained for only a few sensitive products. 
In 2015, a new law concerning technology and economic development areas was adopted.  
19. Since Albania's previous review, there have been no major changes to legislation concerning 
the provision of incentives. The law forbids aid directly linked to export quantities or current 
expenditure linked to export activities, as well as aid contingent upon the use of domestic over imported goods. Special provisions apply for small and medium-sized enterprises. Competition policy is regulated by the law on competition protection, as amended in September 2010. The 
authorities state that the amendment is in line with EU legislation, although certain differences 
remain.   
20. Albania is currently an observer to the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement. The 
law on public procurement was amended in 2012 and 2014 to further harmonize it with the EU 
directives in this area.   
21. In 2014, Albania notified to the WTO that it does not maintain any state trading enterprises. 
Some state-owned companies were privat ized during the period under review. 
22. Some of Albania's intellectual property laws were amended during the review period to 
conform to EU directives: the law on industrial property was amended in 2013, the law on protection of the topography of integrated circ uits in 2014, and the law on copyright and related 
rights in 2013.   
23. Agriculture remains the main source of employment and accounted for an increasing share 
of GDP in recent years. The sector continues to be characterized by small and fragmented farms.  
Government policies to date have been focused mainly on rehabilitating infrastructure and 
assisting farmers through education, training, extension services, the transfer of knowledge, new practices, and technologies, and moving towards integration into the agricultural policies of the EU. 
In 2014, a new strategy for agricultural and rural development was adopted. 
24. The exploration, exploitation and processing of minerals constitutes an important activity for 
the Albanian economy. Mining production is entirely in private hands. The regime is based on ten-year licences renewable once and granted after a tendering procedure. Of the 615 active licences, 
33 were granted to foreign investors, notably for the production of chromium, copper, iron, nickel 
and limestone. 
25. Albania is a producer and exporter of crude oil. The Government is planning to privatize 
Albpetrol, the state-owned company engaging in th e development, production and trade of crude 
oil in 2016. Exploration and production  permits are granted to private and de facto  foreign 
companies in the form of "petroleum agreements " approved by the Council of Ministers for 5 
years, extendable to 7 years for exploration and to 25 years for exploitation in the case of a 
discovery.  
26. The production of gas in Albania was in decline until a recent discovery, which is still under 
evaluation. There is no importation of gas since Albania is not linked to the European network of 
pipelines. A new law, transposing the EU third energy package was adopted in September 2015.  
27. Electricity production in Albania is essentially of hydro-electric origin. While Albania does not 
export electricity, it imports about one-third of its consumption from neighbouring countries. In 
practice, Albania's electricity sector operates mainly under regulated conditions. A new law 
adopted in April 2015 is aligned with
 the provisions of Directive 2009/72/EC (the so-called "third 
energy package") and addresses the liberalizatio n of the electricity market, public service 
obligations, the unbundling of the transmission system, the powers of the national regulatory 
authority, the supply of electricity and customer protection.  WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  28. Manufacturing sensu stricto represented 5.6% of Albania's 2014 GDP. The textile and 
leather/footwear sector accounts for the largest part (29.5%) followed by metal products, rubber and plastic products, and food processing. Albania's main manufactured imports are chemical products, fabricated metal products, and food beverages and tobacco. 
29. Regarding telecommunications services, mobile phone subscribers represent around 93% of 
the total subscribers (including fixed telecommunications). The main mobile and broadband providers have a majority foreign ownership. The incumbent operator Albtelecom has a remaining 
state ownership share of 24%. Albania has undertaken extensive GATS commitments in 
telecommunications, reflecting its internal policy  of complete liberalization. The adoption of a 
general authorization licensing regime in 2008 and the abolition of all remaining restrictions in 2013 are in line with the policy. Albania has an independent regulator and amended its basic law in 
2013 so as to transpose the EU acquis . It has also adopted new regulations regarding facility 
sharing, local loop unbundling, and number portability. There is no universal service requirement; co-investment procedures and programmes with the mobile operator exist. 
30. Financial services represented around 2.5% of GDP in 2014. During the period under review, 
the number of banks (16, of which 14 foreign controlled) remained stable. Around half of the assets of the insurance sector is under foreign control. Pension funds remain a marginal activity 
with six operators; there are no companies listed on the Tirana stock exchange. The activities of 
the securities market are concentrated on bonds. Albania has undertaken extensive GATS commitments regarding financial services. During the period under review, Albania reinforced its 
legislation in order to incorporate the Basel Committee's prudential principles, the Financial Action 
Task Force on Money Laundering's anti-money  laundering recommendations and the EU acquis .  
31. Maritime traffic in Albania remains relatively modest, although passenger traffic to Italy is 
quite sizable. Foreign interests have acquired a co ncession to operate the main port terminals for 
containers, bulk or passengers. There are no nationality or ownership conditions attached to the 
Albanian flag and foreign seafarers can be employed provided that their State of origin recognizes the Albanian seafarers' certificates. There is no cargo sharing, cargo reservation or support policy 
of any kind. National treatment applies for access to ports except for a rebate for the national flag 
in three minor ports. There are no restrictions  on onshore activities and maritime auxiliary 
services.  
32. Currently, there is no national air transport carrier; two start-ups have applied to establish 
one.  Tirana airport, the only international airport, handled 1.8 million passengers in 2014. Foreign 
interests have acquired a concession for 20 years regarding its management. Albania has incorporated the EU ground handling directive into its laws. There are no restrictions on auxiliary 
air transport services covered by the GATS (selli ng and marketing, computer reservation services 
and aircraft repair and maintenance). There are no specific air cargo and air charter policies.   
33. There are no restrictions on the establishment of foreign trucking companies. The licensing 
regulation is qualitative and there is no capacity  or pricing regulation for freight. Albania has 
bilateral road transport agreements with about twenty countries; it benefits from the European Conference of Ministers of Transport's multilateral quotas. Albania has transposed the EU acquis  on 
road transport.  
 WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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1  ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT 
1.1  Recent Economic Developments 1.1.  During the period under review (2010-15), Albania's economic growth weakened up until 
2013; since 2014, however, economic recovery appears to be under way. Per capita GDP reached 
around US$4,562 in 2014, up from US$4,086 in 2010 (Table 1.1). Inflation has been declining since 2010, reaching 1.6% in 2014, reflecting a strong harvest, imported disinflation, and a 
negative output gap.
1 The unemployment rate increased to 17.5% in 2014, up from 14.0% in 
2010. The current account deficit increased to 12.9% of GDP in 2014, compared with 11.3% in 2010.   
Table 1.1 Basic economic indicators, 2010-14 
 2010  2011  2012 2013 2014  
Nominal GDP (current market prices, LEK billion)a 1,239.
6 1,300.
6 1,332.
8 1,350.
6 1,393.
5 
Nominal GDP (current market prices, US$ billion)a 11.9 12.9 12.3 12.8 13.2 
Nominal GDP (current market prices, € billion)a 9.0 9.3 9.6 9.6 10.0 
Real GDP growth (%)b 3.7 2.7 1.4 1.1 2.2 
Per capita GDP (US$ at current prices) 4,086 4,434 4,245 4,409 4,562 
Per capita GDP (€ at current prices) 3,085 3,190 3,304 3,321 3,439 
Population (million) 2.9 2.9 2.9 2.9 2.9 
Unemployment rate (%)  14.0 14.0 13.4 15.9 17.5 
Inflation (CPI, percentage change) 3.6 3.5 2.0 1.9 1.6 
      
GDP by the type of expenditure at current prices (% of GDP)
a      
      
Final consumption 88.9 88.9 88.5 88.9 90.7 
     Final consumption of households 77.6 77.8 77.5 77.9 79.2 
     Final consumption of general government 11.2 11.0 10.8 10.9 11.3 
        Individual consumption 5.3 5.3 5.3 5.4 5.6 
     Collective consumption 5.8 5.7 5.6 5.5 5.7 
     Consumption of NPISHs 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 
Gross fixed capital formation 28.4 29.4 26.5 25.9 24.9 
Domestic absorption 117.3 118.3 115.0 114.9 115.6 
Net export -20.6 -22.7 -18.6 -18.0 -19.1 
     Exports of goods and services (f.o.b) 32.4 34.0 33.4 35.4 29.9 
        Imports of goods and services (f.o.b) 53.0 56.7 52.0 53.5 49.0 
Change in inventories  1.9 2.0 1.8 2.4 3.5 
Statistical discrepancy 1.4 2.4 1.8 0.7 0.0 
      
Consolidated general budget (annual) (% of GDP)      
      
Total revenue 26.2 25.4 24.7 24.0 25.9 
   Grants 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.7 
   Tax revenue 23.3 23.4 22.5 22.0 23.8 
     of which:       
     Tax offices and customs 18.0 18.1 17.4 16.8 17.9 
       of which: VAT 9.2 9.2 8.7 8.2 8.8 
               Ex cise tax 3.1 3.1 2.7 2.8 2.9 
               Custom duties 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4 
   Non-tax revenue 2.5 1.7 1.8 1.6 1.5 
Total expenditure 29.3 28.9 28.2 28.9 31.0 
   Current expenditures 24.3 23.5 23.4 24.1 24.1 
                                               
1 IMF (2015), Albania: Fourth Review under the Extended  Arrangement and Requ est for Modification 
and Waiver of Applicability of Performance Criteria – Staff Report . 
   WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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   2010  2011  2012 2013 2014  
   Capital expenditures 5.4 5.4 4.6 4.8 4.3 
Overall deficit -3.1 -3.5 -3.4 -4.9 -5.1 
Deficit financing 3.1 3.5 3.4 4.9 5.1 
Domestic 1.1 2.0 2.0 4.1 3.0 
Foreign 2.0 1.5 1.4 0.8 2.1 
      
Total public debt 57.7 59.4 62.0 70.1 71.8 
Public debt from the budget (stock) 54.0 55.7 58.0 61.1 65.2 
   Domestic (stock) 32.4 33.1 34.0 36.7 38.1 
   Foreign (stock) 21.6 22.6 23.9 24.4 27.1 
      
External sector (% of GDP, unless otherwise indicated)      
      
Albanian LEK/US$ (period average) 103.9 100.9 108.2 105.7 105.5 
Albanian LEK/€ (period average) 137.7 140.3 139.0 140.3 139.9 
Real effective exchange rate 112.53 112.99 114.21 113.87 111.59 
Nominal effective exchange rate  113.35 113.77 113.69 113.70 112.24 
      
Current account (€ millions) -1,019 -1,225 -978 -1,049 -1,303 
   % of GDP -11.3 -13.2 -10.2 -10.9 -12.9 
Net merchandise trade (% of GDP) -23.1 -24.2 -20.9 -19.7 -21.5 
   Merchandise exports (% of GDP) 13.0 15.2 15.9 11.0 9.3 
   Merchandise imports (% of GDP) -36.1 -39.3 -36.8 -30.7 -30.7 
Services balance (% of GDP) 2.6 1.5 2.2 2.3 3.2 
Remittances from expatriates (% of GDP) 7.7 7.2 7.1 6.9 5.9 
Total external debt stockc (% of GDP) 33.6 34.8 35.6 34.4 36.9 
Reserves (stock) in million €   
1,905    1,913    
1,973    
2,015    
2,192  
   Reserves in months of imports 4.8 4.4 4.7 5.4 5.6 
  
a    Semi-final for 2013, and preliminary for 2014.      
b    Seasonally adjusted; chain-linked volume measures, reference year 2010 (2010=100). c Public and private external debt, including ar rears (figures are from IMF Country Report). 
     
Source:  Bank of Albania online information. Viewed at: http://www.bankofalbania.org/ ; Instant online information. 
 Viewed at: http://www.instat.gov.al/ ; information provided by the authorities of Albania; and IMF Albania 
Country Reports, No. 15/48 (February 2015) and No. 15/129 (May 2015). 
1.2.  The Albanian economy is driven by the services sector, which accounted for around 52.3% of 
GDP in 2014, up from 50.7% in 2010 (Table 1.2). Within services, the largest contribution in 
growth has been made by public administration an d defence. The share of agriculture, forestry and 
fishing is significant and gradually increasing. The share of construction declined from 14.8% of GDP in 2010 to 10.8% in 2014. The manufacturing sector remains small, contributing 5.6% to 
GDP in 2014. Although agriculture has been declining, it still accounted for around 47.9% of total 
employment in 2014, while its share of GDP was just around 14%; labour productivity in agriculture is thus lower than in other sectors. The share of non-agriculture in total employment 
has been increasing since 2010.  
Table 1.2 GDP by economic activity, 2010-14 
 2010 2011 2012 2013a 2014b 
GDP distribution at current basic prices (% of GDP)c      
Agriculture, forestry and fishing 20.7 21.1 21.7 22.5 22.6 
Industryd 13.8 13.6 13.3 14.4 14.2 
   of which: Manufacturing 6.3 6.6 5.3 5.6 5.6 
Construction 14.8 14.7 13.2 12.0 10.8 
Services 50.7 50.7 51.8 51.1 52.3 
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles 
and motorcycles; transportation and storage; accommodation and food service activities 19.1 18.9 19.2 18.3 18.5 
Information and communication 4.2 3.9 3.6 3.2 3.0 WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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   2010 2011 2012 2013a 2014b 
Financial and insurance activities 2.7 3.0 2.8 2.6 2.9 
Real estate activities 7.1 7.0 6.9 7.3 7.2 
Professional, scientific and technical activities; 
administrative and support service activities 3.2 3.3 4.5 5.0 5.4 
Public administration and defence; compulsory social 
security; education; human health and social work 
activities 11.6 11.9 12.5 12.7 12.9 
Arts, entertainment and recreation, repair of 
household goods and other services 2.8 2.8 2.2 2.1 2.5 
GDP by economic activity at 2010 constant prices 
(Annual % change)e      
Agriculture, forestry and fishing 7.6 4.8 5.4 0.7 2.0 
Industryd 19.5 2.1 -3.6 13.4 0.6 
   of which: Manufacturing 11.6 10.5 -15.7 6.6 3.6 
Construction -7.5 3.2 -8.5 -8.4 -6.8 
Services 2.4 2.7 3.2 0.5 4.1 
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles 
and motorcycles; transportation and storage; 
accommodation and food service activities 4.2 3.5 1.9 -5.2 2.3 
Information and communication -16.5 -3.7 -5.4 -11.5 -2.4 
Financial and insurance activities 5.7 8.4 2.3 1.7 0.1 
Real estate activities 0.5 0.0 1.1 8.7 1.7 
Professional, scientific and technical activities; 
administrative and support service activities 0.9 5.0 34.7 13.1 8.1 
Public administration and defence; compulsory social 
security; education; human health and social work 
activities 4.5 4.6 6.7 4.0 5.6 
Arts, entertainment and recreation, repair of 
household goods and other services 22.6 -2.1 -22.4 -1.3 25.2 
Gross domestic product 3.7 2.7 1.4 1.1 2.2 
Memo:       
Structure of employment (% of total)      
State sector 18.4 17.8 17.1 17.9 17.7 
   Budgetary 14.0 13.9 13.4 14.1 13.9 
   Non-budgetary 4.4 4.0 3.7 3.8 3.8 
Non-agricultural private sector 26.7 27.7 28.0 31.7 34.4 
Agricultural private sector 54.9 54.5 54.9 50.4 47.9 
a Semi-final. 
b Preliminary. c Seasonally adjusted. d Referring to mining and quarrying; manufacturing; electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply; 
water supply; sewerage, waste management  and remediation activities.     
e Seasonally adjusted; chain-linked volume measures, reference year 2010 (2010=100).  Source: Instant online information. Viewed at http://www.instat.gov.al/ . 
1.3.  In the United Nations 2014 Human Development Report, Albania ranked 95th out of 187 
countries (compared with 97th in the previous year).2 Key challenges facing Albania continue to 
include the improvement in fiscal imbalances and the reduction of public debt. The authorities 
consider it imperative for the country to pursue structural reform, invest further to improve the business environment, and enhance productivity.  
1.2  Fiscal Policy 
1.4.  Albania ran a general government deficit over the whole 2010-14 period. Fiscal policy in 2014 
was expansionary, with a growth of expenditure and a resulting increase in the budget deficit. The 
deficit rose from 3.1% of GDP in 2010 to 5.1% in 2014, reflecting rapid growth in expenditure 
(from 29.3% of GDP in 2010 to 31.0% in 2014), mainly  as a result of subsidies and policy lending 
to the energy sector. Revenue declined between 2010 and 2013, but increased in 2014 to 25.9% of GDP. Tax revenue has been largely stable around 22-23% of GDP during the period under 
review. VAT is the main source of government re venue. Reliance on customs duties is very low (at 
                                               
 2 United Nations Development Report (UNDP) 2014. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  0.4% of GDP in 2014) and has been declining over  the review period. The authorities intend to 
reduce the public debt to below 60% of GDP by 2018.  
1.3  Monetary and Exchange Rate Policy 1.5.  Albania's monetary policy has been accommo d a t i v e  i n  r e c e n t  y e a r s .  T h e  B a n k  o f  A l b a n i a  
(BOA), Albania's central bank, lowered its policy rate by 0.25 percentage points in November 
2015, to 1.75%, compared with 5.0% at end-2010. The main objective of Albania's monetary policy is to achieve and maintain price stability. The BOA aims at achieving and maintaining price 
stability through targeting an inflation rate at 3% over the medium term. The inflation rate is 
defined as the annual change in the consumer pr ice index (CPI) calculated and published by the 
Albanian Institute of Statistics (INSTAT). The BOA considers that targeting inflation at 3% over the medium term helps to better anchor inflation expectations, and that setting the target slightly 
above that of the European Central Bank allows a necessary buffer for the structural adjustment 
and the economic convergence Albania needs as an emerging economy in a catch-up process with richer economies.  
1.6.  Albania has been operating under a floating exchange rate regime since 1992. The 
authorities state that interventions of the BOA are limited by regulation and have been rarely implemented; it can intervene in the foreign exchan ge market only in situations of large exchange 
rate misalignments not supported by economic fundamentals in order to smooth large short-term 
market fluctuations and for foreign exchange ac cumulation. There is no exchange rate target. 
Interventions must not interfere with the main monetary policy goal of achieving price stability and hence must not conflict with the inflation target. The exchange rate with respect to the euro 
remained relatively stable during 2010-14, at around LEK 140/€. 
1.7.  On 28 February 2014, the IMF approved a three-year Extended Arrangement with access 
equivalent to SDR 295.42 billion.  
1.4  Balance of Payments 
1.8.  Albania maintained a current account deficit over 2010-14 (Table 1.3). While the level of this 
deficit fluctuated over 2010-14, it increased considerably in 2011 and 2014. Albania's merchandise 
trade deficit was the main contributor to the current account deficit during the period, accounting 
for around 21.5% of GDP in 2014. Remittances from workers abroad (mainly in Greece) represent a key source of household income. Since the advent of the 2008 economic crisis, remittances have been declining, from 7.7% of GDP in 2010 to 5.9% in 2014. Albania has a relatively large domestic 
savings-investment gap, which reflects the sizable current account deficits. The authorities 
consider that this is against the background of investment needs of the country and the rapid capital accumulation it has undergone under the economic transition since the beginning of the 
1990s. Gross reserves reached around €2.2 billion, equivalent of about 5.6 months of imports of 
goods and services. 
Table 1.3 Balance of pa yments of Albania, 2010-14 
 
(€ million) 
 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 
 Current account  -1,019 -1,225 -978 -1,049 -1,287 
   Credits 4,285 4,381 4,414 3,714 3,790 
   Debits -5,304 -5,606 -5,392 -4,763 -5,078 
   Goods, balance of payments basis  -2,083 -2,242 -1,999 -1,979 -2,216 
     Credits 1,172 1,406 1,526 1,051 932 
     Debits -3,254 -3,647 -3,525 -3,030 -3,147 
   Services 232 135 213 226 323 
     Credits 1,751 1,747 1,673 1,715 1,881 
     Debits -1,519 -1,612 -1,460 -1,489 -1,558 
   Income -90 -25 -72 24 -119 
     Credits 286 216 188 138 126 
     Debits -376 -241 -260 -113 -245 
   Current transfers  922 906 880 680 725 
     Credits 1,077 1,012 1,026 810 852 
     Debits -154 -105 -147 -130 -127 
     Official sector 45 29 33 17 9 
        Credits 53 36 41 25 16 
        Debits -8 -7 -8 -8 -6 WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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   2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 
     Other sector 877 878 847 663 715 
        Credits 1,024 976 986 786 836 
        Debits -146 -98 -139 -122 -121 
          of which:        
          Worker's remittances 690 665 675 544 592 
             Credits 696 670 680 547 595 
             De bits -7 -5 -5 -3 -3 
Capital and financial account 872 954 779 855 1,090 
Capital account  86 85 81 48 87 
Financial account  787 869 698 807 935 
Reserve assets  -179 29 -77 104 97 
Net errors and omissions 325 243 276 194 266 
Net balance 179 -29 77 104 97 
Note:  Historical data from 2010 to 2012 reflect BPM5. The data from 2013 onwards reflect BPM6.  
      Thus, the last two years, 2013 and 2014, are not strictly comparable with other years.      Source:  Bank of Albania onli ne information. Viewed at: http://www.bankofalbania.org/ ; and information 
provided by the Albanian authorities. 
1.9.  Albania's public external debt stood at around 27.1% of GDP in 2014, up 2.7 percentage 
points from the previous year. Public domestic debt has been increasing since 2010, and reached 
around 38.1% of GDP, and total public debt reached around 65.2% of GDP.  
1.5  Developments in Trade and Investment 1.5.1  Developments in merchandise trade 
1.10.  Albania's exports of goods and services am ounted to around 29.9% of GDP in 2014, while 
imports of goods and services around 49%. 
1.5.2  Composition of trade 
1.11.  In value terms (euros), exports increased during the period under review, to reach 
€1.8 billion (Table A1.1). In 2014, Albania's main exports were: mineral products (33.6% of the value of total merchandise exports); footwear (nearly 16.9%); textiles and textile articles 
(16.7%), and base metals and articles (14.2%) (Chart 1.1). The strongest levels of growth over 
the period have been in mineral products. The value of exports of base metals and textiles and textile articles declined between 2010 and 2014. 
1.12.  The value of imports grew in 2011 (by 11.7%) and 2014 (by 7.2%), but declined in 2012 
(by 2.2%) and 2013 (by 3.2%) (Table A1.2). In  2014, Albania's main imports were: mineral 
products (16.3% of the value of total merchandise imports); machinery and electrical equipment (12.7%); base metals and articles (10.4%); chemicals and products (9.2%); and textiles and 
textile articles (9.1%). There was an increase in the value of imports of mineral products, 
chemicals and products, and textiles and textile articles over the period, as well as a slight decline in the imports of machinery and electrical equipment, and base metals and articles.  WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  Chart 1.1 Composition of merchandise trade by HS section, 2010 and 2014 
 
 
Source: WTO Secretariat calculations based on UNSD Comtrade database. 
1.5.3  Direction of trade 
1.13.  The EU is by far the destination for the largest share of Albanian merchandise exports (in 
value terms): around 77.4% in 2014, and the ex port share increased between 2010 and 2014 by WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  around 7.2 percentage points (Chart 1.2). Albania's other main trading partners include Serbia and 
Turkey (Table A1.3). 
1.14.  The EU is also Albania's main source of merchandise imports, accounting for around 61.1% 
of the total value in 2014 (Table A1.4). Other main sources of imports include: China (7.3%), 
Turkey (7.1%), Serbia (5.4%), CIS (3.1%), and Switzerland (3.1%). The share of imports from 
the EU and CIS declined over the period, while th e share of imports from China, Turkey, Serbia, 
and Switzerland increased. 
Chart 1.2 Direction of merchandise trade, 2010 and 2014 
 
 
 
Source: WTO Secretariat calculations based on UNSD Comtrade database. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  1.5.4  Trade in services 
1.15.  Trade in services (exports + imports) increased by 7.3% in 2014 (Table 1.4). Exports of 
services accounted for around 66.8% of total exports of goods and services in 2014, while services imports were 33.1% of total imports. Albania maintained a surplus in the balance of trade in 
services during the period under review; this surplus reached €323 million in 2014, equivalent to 
around 3.2% of GDP, mainly on acco unt of a higher surplus in travel.  
Table 1.4 Trade in services, 2010-2014 
(€ million and %) 
  2010  2011  2012 2013 2014  
Balance on services (€ million) 232  135 213 226 323  
Exports (€ million) 1,751  1,747  1,673 1,715 1,881  
 (% of total exports) 
Goods-related services n.a. n.a. n.a. 8.7 10.6 
Transport 10.8 12.8 12.1 11.1 7.8 
Travel 70.1 66.9 68.4 64.5 68.2 
Other commercial services 17.0 18.7 17.2 14.0 11.9 
   of which:        
Telecommunications, computer, and information services 4.6 4.8 8.1 8.0 6.7 
      Other business services 8.3 8.4 6.4 3.8 3.3 
        
Government goods and services n.i.e. 2.2 1.6 2.3 1.8 1.5 
        
Imports (€ million) 1,519  1,612  1,460 1,674 1,763  
  (% of total imports) 
Goods-related services n.a. n.a. n.a. 0.0 0.0 
Transport 15.7 17.0 17.5 11.1 11.0 
Travel 67.9 69.6 68.7 74.7 76.8 
Other commercial services 15.5 12.9 13.2 11.2 10.3 
   of which:        
   Insurance and pension services 3.9 4.1 4.5 1.0 0.9 
Telecommunications, computer, and information services 2.7 3.0 3.3 4.5 3.3 
Other business services 5.7 2.7 3.5 2.8 2.7 
Government goods and services n.i.e. 0.9 0.6 0.6 3.0 1.9 
n.a. Not applicable.  
  Note:  Historical data from 2010 to 2012 reflect BPM5. The data from 2013 onwards reflect BPM6.       Thus, the last two years, 2013 and 2014, are not strictly comparable with other years.    Source:  Bank of Albania online information. Viewed at: http://www.bankofalbania.org/ ; and 
         information provided by the Albanian authorities.   
1.6  Foreign Direct Investment 
1.16.  Foreign direct investment in 2014 totalled €869.2 million, down by 8% from 2013 (Table 
1.5). Around 58% of foreign investment flows in 2014 were directed to mining and quarrying, 
12.9% to transport, storage and communication, and 8.6% to electricity, gas and water supply. 
Foreign investment flows originated mainly from EU countries, Switzerland, and "other" countries. In 2014, the stock of FDI was largest in transport, storage and communication, financial intermediation, and mining and quarrying (Table 1.6). The stock of FDI mainly originated from the 
EU countries, Canada, and Turkey (Table 1.7).  
Table 1.5 FDI flows in Albania, 2013-2014 
(€ million) 
 2013 2014 
Total FDI 944.8 869.2  
By country    
   EU(28) 259.5 271.0 
     Greece 13.2 118.5 
     Netherlands 70.4 82.2 
     Italy 82.9 37.8 
     Germany 7.8 22.0 
     Cyprus -0.7 13.3 
     Croatia 0.0 6.1 
     United Kingdom -1.1 4.8 
     Czech Republic 40.3 2.6 WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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   2013 2014 
   Switzerland -46.1 73.5 
   Turkey 47.6 63.5 
   United States of America 16.1 35.3 
   Cayman Islands 17.4 18.9 
   Norway -20.9 0.6 
   Other (including Canada) 458.4 119.1 
     
By economic activity    
   Agriculture, hunting and forestry 0.0 0.0 
   Fishing -0.1 -2.6 
   Mining and quarrying 589.2 503.6 
   Manufacturing -113.6 38.5 
   Electricity, gas and water supply 106.9 75.1 
   Construction -3.3 -24.0 
Wholesale and retail trade;  
repair of motor vehicles, motorcycle s and personal and household goods -9.1 44.8 
   Hotels and restaurants 0.2 -1.9 
   Transport, storage and communication 16.2 112.5 
   Financial intermediation 77.2 36.6 
   Real estate, renting and business activities 237.9 71.2 
   Education 1.3 2.5 
   Health and social work -4.0 -1.7 
   Other community, social and pe rsonal service activities 0.1 4.4 
   Extra-territorial organizations and bodies 14.3 10.4 
   Other 31.7 0.0 
Source:  WTO Secretariat's calculations based on data from Time Series Database of the Bank of Albania. 
 Viewed at: https://www.bankofalbania.org/web/Time_series_22_2.php 
Table 1.6 FDI stock in Albania by economic activity, 2010-14 
 € million  % of total FDI 
 2010 2011 2012  2013  2014  2010  2011  2012 2013 2014  
Total FDI 2,436 3,400 3,893  4,113  4,553  100.0  100.0  100.0 100.0 100.0  
Agriculture, hunting and 
forestry 7 4 1 1 1 0.3 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 
Fishing 2 4 0  0 0 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0  
Mining and quarrying 311 612 810 742 677 12.8 18.0 20.8 18.0 14.9 
Mining and quarrying of 
energy producing materials 270 539 728
 666 604 11.1 15.8 18.7 16.2 13.3  
Mining and quarrying, 
except of energy 
producing materials 41 73 83 76 73 1.7 2.2 2.1 1.9 1.6 
Manufacturing 378 431 335  394 412 15.5 12.7 8.6 9.6 9.1  
of which:               
Other non-metallic 
mineral products 125 206 216  221 222 5.1 6.1 5.6 5.4 4.9  
Food products, 
beverages and tobacco 64 52 29 60 65 2.6 1.5 0.8 1.5 1.4 
Textiles and textile 
products 34 30 24  26 30 1.4 0.9 0.6 0.6 0.7  
Basic metals and 
fabricated metal 
products 51 46 17 21 24 2.1 1.3 0.4 0.5 0.5 
Leather and leather 
products 39 36 16  18 22 1.6 1.1 0.4 0.4 0.5  
Pulp, paper and paper 
products; publishing 
and printing 18 22 7 11 13 0.7 0.6 0.2 0.3 0.3 
Electrical and optical 
equipment 14 14 13  12 11 0.6 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.2  
Chemicals, chemical 
products and man-
made fibres 13 13 2 9 8 0.5 0.4 0.0 0.2 0.2 
Electricity, gas and water 
supply 118 247 30  -4 399 4.8 7.3 0.8 -0.1 8.8  
Construction -1 11 142 140 107 0.0 0.3 3.6 3.4 2.4 
Wholesale and retail trade; 
repair of motor vehicles, 
motorcycles and personal and household goods 240 217 157
 156 189 9.9 6.4 4.0 3.8 4.1  
   of which: wholesale trade 199 165 143 138 156 8.2 4.9 3.7 3.3 3.4 WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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   € million  % of total FDI 
 2010 2011 2012  2013  2014  2010  2011  2012 2013 2014  
and commission trade, 
except of motor vehicles 
and motorcycles 
Hotels and restaurants 76 70 63  63 60 3.1 2.1 1.6 1.5 1.3  
Transport, storage and 
communication 400 389 789 1,157  1,219  16.4 11.4 20.3 28.1 26.8 
of which:               
Supporting and auxiliary 
transport activities; 
activities of travel 
agencies 42 41 34 38 42 1.7 1.2 0.9 0.9 0.9 
Post and 
telecommunications 360 349 753  1,110  1,180  14.8 10.3 19.3 27.0 25.9  
Financial intermediation 700 715 753 818 768 28.7 21.0 19.3 19.9 16.9 
Real estate, renting and 
business activities 63 83 90  361 400 2.6 2.4 2.3 8.8 8.8  
Education 4 6 7 13 17 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.4 
Health and social wor k 64 47 36  33 29 2.6 1.4 0.9 0.8 0.6  
Other community, social 
and personal service 
activities 12 9 18 19 26 0.5 0.3 0.5 0.5 0.6 
Extra-territorial 
organizations and bodies 24 36 46  60 60 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.5 1.3  
Other manufacture 38 521 616 160 189 1.6 15.3 15.8 3.9 4.2 
Note:  Data from 2010 to 2011 are based on BPM5. The data from 2012 onwards reflect BPM6. 
 Thus, the data from 2012 to 2014 are not strictly comparable with other years.   Source:  WTO Secretariat's calculations based on data provided  by the authorities and data from Time Series Database of 
the Bank of Albania. Viewed at: https://www.bankofalbania.org/web/Time_series_22_2.php . 
Table 1.7 FDI stock in Albania by origin, 2010-2014 
 € million % of total FDI 
  
2010   
2011   
2012   
2013   
2014   
2010   
2011   
2012   
2013   
2014  
 Total FDI  2,436  3,400  3,893  4,113  4,553  100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 
 EU(28)  1,773  1,938  2,087  2,510  2,952  72.8 57.0 53.6 61.0 64.8 
Greece  601  508  782  1,093  1,169  24.7 14.9 20.1 26.6 25.7 
Italy  387  427  457  508  526  15.9 12.6 11.7 12.4 11.6 
Netherlands  223  253  338  389  505  9.1 7.4 8.7 9.5 11.1 
 Austria  354  444  391  432  357  14.5 13.0 10.0 10.5 7.8 
 Germany  84  84  100  120  128  3.4 2.5 2.6 2.9 2.8 
 Cyprus  60  129  106  86  117  2.5 3.8 2.7 2.1 2.6 
Canada  270  529  705  797  755  11.1 15.6 18.1 19.4 16.6 
Turkey  187  188  329  375  394  7.7 5.5 8.4 9.1 8.6 
United States of America  -98  -47  36  34  88  -4.0 -1.4 0.9 0.8 1.9 
Switzerland  68  544  395  98  82  2.8 16.0 10.1 2.4 1.8 
Lebanon  28  29  52  43  47  1.2 0.9 1.3 1.0 1.0 
Cayman Islands  -7  57  58  34  26  -0.3 1.7 1.5 0.8 0.6 
Former Yugoslav Republic 
of Macedonia  22  17  17  20  22  0.9 0.5 0.4 0.5 0.5 
 Kosovo  10  5  13  13  15  0.4 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3 
 Other  184  140  202  191  174  7.5 4.1 5.2 4.6 3.8 
Note:   Data from 2010 to 2011 are based on BPM5. The data from 2012 onwards reflect BPM6. 
       Thus, the data from 2012 to 2014 are not strictly comparable with other years.       Source:  WTO Secretariat's calculations based on data from Time Series Database of the Bank of Albania. 
Viewed at: https://www.bankofalbania.org/web/Time_series_22_2.php .WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  2  TRADE AND INVESTMENT REGIME 
2.1  General Framework 2.1.1  Institutional framework 2.1.  The Constitution of the Republic of Albania sets out, inter alia , the functions of the executive, 
legislature, and judiciary.
1 
2.2.  The President is the Head of State, and is el ected via a qualified majority vote of the National 
Assembly.2 The Presidential term of office is five years, renewable once. The Constitution grants 
limited authority to the President, re ndering this role largely ceremonial.3 Executive power is 
vested in the Council of Ministers, comprising the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, and 
Ministers. The President appoints the Prime Minister  based on the proposal of the party or coalition 
possessing the majority of seats in the Assembly, usually following a general election. Albania's 
assembly comprises 140 members, elected by proportional representation for a four-year term.4 
2.3.  The Constitution (Article 95.2) grants extensive powers to the Council of Ministers, which 
may exercise any state function not attributed to other bodies of central or local government. 
Some observers have noted that this is often used as a constitutional basis for general and even 
enlarged discretionary powers of the administration (Articles 9 and 21 of the Code of Administrative Procedures). 
2.4.  Since the last review in 2010, the Constitution has been amended once, in September 2012. 
The amendment allows for the investigation and criminal prosecution of members of the legislature, judges, and members of the Council of Ministers without prior authorization by the 
assembly as required under the former law. The changes necessary for the implementation of this 
amendment were introduced into the Code of Cr iminal Procedure in March 2014. This reform was 
promoted by the Prosecutor General, supported by  both the ruling parties and the opposition and 
welcomed by the Organization for Security an d Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and by the 
European Union who had recommended anti-corruption measures in its successive progress 
reports on enlargement. 
2.5.  In 2014, a reform of local administrati on (Law No. 115/2014 of 31 July 2014) reduced the 
number of municipalities from 373 to 61 in order to remedy pre-existing fragmentation; to 
counterbalance the depopulation of eastern and rural areas; and to increase the capacities of local 
governments by better matching their resources and the services they provide. This reform follows 
a recommendation contained in the EU progress report s relating to Albania's candidacy to the EU.  
2.6.  No changes have been made since the last re view to the basic principles of the legal system; 
the hierarchy of norms; the parliamentary procedur es; the functions of the Constitutional Court; 
and the signing and entry into force of international agreements.
5 
2.7.  Judicial reform remains one of the Government's key objectives, notably with a view to 
Albania's candidacy to the European Union, this criteria being closely monitored in that context. During the period under review, rules on the su spension and removal of members from the High 
Council of Justice have been adopted by virtue of Law No. 101/2014, increasing the transparency, 
accountability and efficiency of this constitutional body. Moreover, the administrative courts foreseen by the 2008 Law on Organization of the Judicial System, whose organization and 
functioning is provided for by Law 49/2012, have been functioning since November 2013. The 
creation of administrative courts constitutes an improvement towards the efficiency and reduction 
in time of the judicial process. In 2014, the pa rliament adopted an amendment to Law 49/2012 on 
                                               
1 The Constitution was adopted on 21 October 1998, and entered into effect on 28 November 1998.  
Viewed at: http://www.president.al/?page_id=663  
2 Presidential candidates must be put forw ard by at least 20 members of the Assembly. 
3 The powers of the President are mainly set out in Part Four, Article 92 of the Constitution. The 
President exercises his or her power via the issuance of decrees. 
4 Full proportional representation was introduced by constitutional amendment in 2008. Previously, 100 
members were elected direct ly, and another 40 by prop ortional representation. 
5 For a detailed description of these elements see the previous TPR report of Albania, WTO (2010), 
paragraphs 12 to 14. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  administrative courts, by virtue of Law No. 100/ 2014. The amendment allows for the inclusion of 
legal assistants to facilitate the work of the judges in the administrative courts of first instance and Administrative Court of Appeal, guaranteeing inde pendence in the discharge of their duties. The 
School for Magistrates has been reformed and new criteria for the selection of magistrates were 
introduced by virtue of Law No. 97/2014 amending Law No. 8136/1996. 
2.8.   A new strategy and action plan for judi cial reform for 2014-2020 has been drafted by a 
Senior Level Experts Group and was approved in principle by Decision No. 15, dated 30 July 2015, 
of the Special Parliamentary Commission on Judicial Reform. The strategy and the action plan will 
serve as a reference point for the drafting of the constitutional and legal amendments, and the opinion of the Venice Commission has been reques ted. The Senior Level Experts Group has just 
finalized the public consultations on constitutional amendments. Said amendments consist in some 
changes to the role of the President in the judici al system; independence and effectiveness of the 
High Court; independence and impartiality of the High Council of Justice; the role of the 
Prosecutor's office, Constitutional Court, and accountability of the judges. 
2.1.2  Trade policy formulation and implementation  
2.9.   The Ministry of Economic Development, Tourism, Trade and Entrepreneurship (MEDTTE) has 
overall responsibility for the formulation of trade policy. A number of other ministries and agencies 
have policy-making responsibilities in trade-related areas. The institutional framework of trade 
policy coordination is currently being completely revamped with the recent or ongoing establishment of three new bodies (outlined below), replacing the Business Advisory Council established by Law No. 9607 of 11 September 2006.  
2.10.  First, a National Committee for Trade Policy Coordination and Facilitation will soon be 
established (the draft order of the Prime Minister establishing the Committee has recently been sent for approval). MEDTTE is responsible for th e setting up and management of this Committee, 
tasked with coordinating and overseeing the formulation of trade policy. The Committee will be 
chaired by the Minister responsible for trade and w ill include representatives from all institutions 
involved in trade policy making and facilitation (Ministry of Finance; Ministry of Industry and 
Energy; Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure; Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and 
Water Management; Ministry of Health; Ministry of EU Integration; General Director of Customs; and four representatives from business associations). 
2.11.   The main functions of this committee will be: 
a. Coordination of trade policy-making at the national level through (i) preliminary 
discussion of any new trade policy having direct or indirect impact on trade, (ii) periodic assessment of the impact of sectoral policies in Albania's trade policy, (iii) 
assessment at an early stage of any new sectoral policy and its related impact on trade 
policy;  
b. Consultation regarding trade policy with the business community through: (i) 
introduction of new policies and effective discussion with trade and business 
community on its impact, (ii) discussion of any internal trade barriers created by sectoral legislation, (iii) presentation and discussion of trade barriers created between trading partners; 
c. Propose measures to facilitate trade through: (i) coordination of activities within the 
context of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, (ii) promotion of measures to establish a Single Window customs system, (iii) supervision of the enforcement of activities facilitating trade agreement with Kosovo, (iv) supervision of trade-facilitation activities under CEFTA; and 
d. Monitoring of trade policy through: (i) preparation of annual reports on the progress of 
trade policy, in particular with regard to administrative capacities. 
2.12.  Second, the National Economic Council has been established by Law 57/2014 of 5 June 
2014 'On the set up and functioning of the National Economic Council', as a single consultation 
structure between the Government, national and foreign-owned companies, financial WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  organisations, and academia. It has so far he ld eight meetings. Many reforms and policies 
affecting the country's economic development ar e discussed and presented during these meetings, 
such as business reform, inward processing ("façon") regulations, an 'Industry Package' for the plastics industry, the Single Window customs sy stem, the new Customs Code, the Budget Law, the 
Action Plan on Informality, etc. 
2.13.  Third, the Investment Council was created by the Decree of the Council of Ministers 
No. 294, of 8 April 2015 "For the establishment of Investment Council". The Investment Council is 
a platform set up by the Albanian authoritie s ,  w i t h  s u p p o r t  f r o m  t h e  E u r o p e a n  B a n k  f o r  
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), to intensify the dialogue between the Government and the private sector, improve the business climate, and promote good governance. Following the launch meeting held on 15 April 2015, the IC met for the first time on 1 July 2015, during which 
its working methodology (internal regulation) was approved. The topic of the first meeting was the 
discussion of the Deregulation Reform, aiming to reduce risk and costs to businesses. Information 
on the activity of the Investment Council is provided in its website
6. The second meeting held on 5 
October 2015 dealt with tax inspection and bankruptcy law. Finally, alongside these institutional 
mechanisms and in response to specific needs and requirements of policymaking, ad hoc arrangements can be made.  
2.2  Trade Policy Objectives 
2.14.   A 'Business and Investment Development Strategy 2014-2020' was approved by the 
Decree of the Council of Ministers No. 635, dated 1 October 2014.
7 This document assigns two 
main strategic objectives, notably productivity growth and competitiveness, and describes the 
means necessary to achieve those goals, in partic ular the dynamic development of enterprises, the 
promotion of investments, and a better utilization of natural, human and financial resources. It also sets some quantitative targets. This business and investment strategy is itself part of the 
wider national development and integration strategy, the main aim of which is Albania's medium-
term integration within the European Union. The business and investment strategy is therefore aligned with the EU industrial policy as reflecte d by the 'Europe 2020' document and its regional 
offshoot, the South East Europe 2020 strategy (SEE 2020).  
2.15.   The Business and Investment Development Strategy 2014-2020 indicates that the trade 
policy objectives of Albania are guided by WTO pr inciples and therefore guarantee the absence of 
quantitative restrictions on imports and exports (except in cases of environmental protection or 
assistance to fragile industries, cultural heritage, forestry and arms and ammunitions), export 
subsidies, any kind of tax on exports and export bans. 
2.16.  Export-wise, the business strategy identifi es the following main challenges and weaknesses: 
lack of coordination between the public and pr ivate sectors; poor physical infrastructure; 
difficulties in the fulfilment of quality standards; and lack of efficient export-financing schemes. The objectives that stem from this analysis are the full integration of Albania into the regional 
market (with a specific focus on Kosovo and FYROM), EU market and global market; import 
substitution in areas such as steel, cement and agricultural products; the reduction of administrative costs; the elimination of non-tariff barriers; and the liberalization of services trade within the region. 
2.3  Trade Agreements and Arrangements 
2.3.1  WTO 2.17.  Albania became a Member of the WTO on 8 September 2000. Albania grants at least MFN 
treatment to all its trading partners. 
2.18.   Albania is an active participant in the Doha development agenda and made several joint 
submissions with other delegations during th e period under review, notably on services
8, TRIPS9 
                                               
6 Viewed at: http://www.investment.com.al/  
7 Viewed at: http://www.ekonomia.gov.al/files/userfiles/Business&Investment_Dev._Strategy.pdf  
8 WTO document JOB/SERV/60, 15 April 2011. 
9 WTO document TN/C/W/60, 19 April 2011. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  and the general state of the negotiations.10 The trade policy objectives of Albania are motivated by 
national economic needs and private sector deve lopment. According to the authorities they are 
aimed at creating and maintaining a trade regime fully compliant with international obligations and WTO law, and one that is transparent, non-discrim inatory, predictable and proportional to public 
policy and security needs. Trade facilitation as a complement to trade liberalization is an integral 
part of this policy. 
2.19.  Regarding recent agreements concluded under the auspices of the WTO, legal procedures 
are in progress for the acceptance of the Protocol  on Trade Facilitation amending the Marrakesh 
Agreement establishing WTO and introducing the Trade Facilitation Agreement. 
2.20.  Albania is a party to the Information Technology Agreement in WTO; it has co-sponsored 
the EU's proposal and has recently supported the declaration and the list of products proposed to 
be covered by this agreement.  
2.21.  With regard to accession to the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), following a 
third request from the GPA Committee, in July 2015 Al bania officially replied on its intention not to 
accede to GPA at that moment. The process of harmonization of national legislation with EU acquis 
in all areas is a priority and public administration capacities are dedicated to this process. The Albanian authorities therefore consider that any process of accession to GPA at this stage would 
prove difficult and very demanding. 
2.22.  Albania has not been involved in WTO dispute settlement proceedings as complainant, 
defendant or third party. Since its accession, Albania has submitted numerous notifications covering various WTO topics (Table 2.1) 
Table 2.1 Notifications to the WTO,  January 2010 to December 2015 
Legal provision Description of 
requirement Frequency WTO document 
(most recent or series) 
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 
Article XVII:4 Products traded by state-
trading enterprises Every three years No notification made  
Article XXIV:7 Customs unions and free-
trade areas Ad hoc WT/REG/292/N/1  
WT/REG/292/N/2  WT/REG/292/N/3 
Understanding on the Interpretation  of Article XVII (State Trading)  
Article XVII:4(a) State trading ac tivities Annual G/STR/N/13/ALB  
G/STR/N/14/ALB  G/STR/N/15/ALB 
Agreement on Agriculture  
Article 5.7 Special safeguard Annual, ad hoc No notification made 
Articles 10 and 18.2 Export subsidies Annual G/AG/N/ALB/5 
Article 12.1(b) New export restrictions Ad hoc No notification made 
Article 16.2 Food aid and other 
assistance Annual, ad hoc No notification made 
Article 18.2 Volume of imports under 
tariff quotas Annual No notification made 
Article 18.2 Tariff quota administration Once, then changes No notification made 
Articles 18.2 and 18.3 Domestic suppo rt Annual and ad hoc G/AG/N/ALB/6 
G/AG/N/ALB/7 
Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  
Article 7 and Annex B Proposed SPS regulations 
(including proposed or emergency measures) Ad hoc G/SPS/N/ALB/124,  
G/SPS/N/ALB/126 to 184   
Annex B, paragraph 3 Enquiry point Once, then changes No notification made  
Annex B, paragraph 10 National notification 
authority Once, then changes No notification made  
Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade  
Articles 2, 3, 5 and 7 Proposed and adopted 
technical regulations Before or immediately 
after the measure is taken. G/TBT/N/ALB/71 
G/TBT/N/ALB/72 G/TBT/N/ALB/73 G/TBT/N/ALB/74 G/TBT/N/ALB/75 G/TBT/N/ALB/76 G/TBT/N/ALB/77 
                                               
10 WTO document TN/C/15, 31 July 2015. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  Legal provision Description of 
requirement Frequency WTO document 
(most recent or series) 
Article 5.6, 5.7 and 7.2 
 Conformity assessment 
procedures Ad hoc G/TBT/N/ALB/45 
G/TBT/N/ALB/55 to 70 
Article 2.9 
Article 10.1 and 10.3 Enquiry point Once, then changes No notification made  
Article 15.2 Implementation and 
administration measures Once, then changes No notification made  
Paragraph J, Code of 
Good Practice for the Preparation, Adoption and Application of Standards Work programme of bodies 
that have accepted the Code Biannual No notification made  
Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs)  
Article 5.1 TRIMs not in conformity with 
the provisions of the Agreement Once No notification made  
Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the GATT 1994 (Anti-dumping)  
Article 16.4 Anti-dumping actions taken 
over the past six months Biannual No action taken 
(G/ADP/N/202/Add.1)  
Article 16.5 Investigating authority Once, then changes No notification made  
Article 18.5 Laws and regulations Once, then changes No notification made  
Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the GATT 1994 (Agreement on Customs Valuation)  
Article 22.2  Legislation Once, then changes No notification made 
Annex III, paragraph 3 Reservations in respect of 
valuation methods order Once No notification made 
Decision of the Committee 
on CV (12 May 1995) Responses to the checklist of 
issues Once No notification made 
Decisions under paras. A3 
and A4 of document 
G/VAL/5 Application of decision Once No notification made 
Agreement on Preshipment Inspection  
Article 5 Laws or regulations notified Once, then changes No notification made 
Agreement on Rules of Origin 
Article 5.1 Rules, judicial decisions Once No notification made 
Article 5.2 Changes in non-preferential 
rules of origin Ad hoc No notification made 
Annex II Preferential and non-
preferential rules of origin Once, then changes No notification made 
Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures  
Articles 1.4(a), 8.2(b)  Laws and regulations Once, then changes G/LIC/N/1/ALB/4 
Article 5 Import licensing procedures Ad hoc No notification made 
Article 7.3 Questionnaire Annual G/LIC/N/3/ALB/5 to 7 
Article 8.2(b) Changes in legislation Once, then changes G/LIC/N/1/ALB/4 
Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures  
Article 25.1 Article XVI:1 of the GATT 
1994 and Article 25 of the SCM Agreement Full notifications 
every three years; annual updating. G/SCM/N/186/ALB 
G/SCM/N/220/ALB G/SCM/N/253/ALB  G/SCM/N/284/ALB 
Article 25.11 Countervailing duties applied 
over the past six months Biannual G/SCM/N/203, 212, 219, 228, 
235, 242, 250, 267, 281 
Article 25.12 Investigating authority, 
domestic investigation 
procedures Once No notification made  
Article 32.6 Laws and regulations Once, then changes No notification made 
Agreement on Safeguards  
Article 12.6 Laws and regulations Once, then changes No notification made 
General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)  
Article III:3 Legislation Ad hoc S/C/N/610, S/C/N/623 - 641 
Article III:4 and IV:2 Enquiry and contact point Once, then changes No notification made  
Article V:7(a) Economic integration 
agreements Once only No notification made  
Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)   
Article 63.2 Laws and regulations Once, then changes IP/N/1/ALB/4 and 4/Rev.1 
IP/N/1/ALB/4/D/3 
IP/N/1/ALB/4/I/2 and 3 
IP/N/1/ALB/4/G/1 
IP/N/1/ALB/4/P/3 
IP/N/1/ALB/4/T/1 
Article 69 Contact points Once, then changes No notification made  
Decision of the Council for 
TRIPS of 21 November 
1995 Checklist of issues on 
enforcement 
 Once, then changes No notification made  
Trade Facilitation 
Agreement WT/L/911 Notification of category A 
commitments  Once 
 WT/PCTF/N/ALB/1 WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  Legal provision Description of 
requirement Frequency WTO document 
(most recent or series) 
Other    
Integrated Data Base for 
Personal Computers. 
General Council Decision 
of 16 July 1997 Customs tariffs, import 
statistics Annual  March 2015 
Source: WTO Secretariat. 
2.3.2  Regional and preferential agreements 
2.23.  Albania has not extended its network of free trade agreements since the last TPR report in 
March 2010 and it remains composed of the 2006 Central European Free Trade Agreement 
members (Bosnia and Herzegovina; Croatia; the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; 
Moldova; Serbia and Montenegro; and UNMIK/Kosovo (United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo));  a 2006 agreement with Turkey; and a 2009 agreement with EFTA
11. This 
latter agreement entered into force in November 2010 (for Albania, Liechtenstein and 
Switzerland); 1 August 2011 (for Albania and Norway); and 1 October 2011 (for Albania and 
Iceland). Full implementation started on 7 Fe bruary 2011 (for Albania, Liechtenstein and 
Switzerland); 28 July 2011 (for Albania and No rway); and 16 September 2011 (for Albania and 
Iceland). Two out of those three agreements, Al bania–Turkey and Albania-EFTA, have been the 
subject of a factual presentation by the WTO secretariat and of an examination by the WTO 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements12. 
2.24.  During the period under review, Albania has signed 12 economic and technical cooperation 
agreements, which are detailed in Table 2.2 below. 
Table 2.2 Economic and Technical Cooperatio n Agreements signed by Albania, 2010-14 
No. Country Date of approval Date of signature Date of entry into 
force 
1 Azerbaijan 2013 8 April 2013 23 May 2013 
 
2 Bulgaria  2012 22 October 2012 20 February 2013 
3 Hungary 2010 26 March 2010 19 March 2011 
4 Kosovo  
(Agreement to promoting and 
facilitating trade) VKM no. 223, 23 April 2014 11 January 2014 11 March 2015 
4.1 Kosovo Protocol  2015 23 March 2015 23 March 2015 
5 Montenegro DCM no. 858 dated 10 December 2014 23 February 2015 20 November 2015 
6 UAE MoU 2014 13 March 2014 13 March 2014 
7 China, People's Republic of  DCM no. 332 dated 22 April 2015 16 July 2015 Not yet in force 
8 China, People's Republic of  DCM no. 27 dated 22 January 2014 23 January 2014 Not yet in force 
9 Kazakhstan DCM 213 dated 11 March 2015 Not signed  Not yet in force 
10 Korea DCM 903 dated 11 November 2015 29 September 2015 Not yet in force 
11 Kuwaiti MoU DCM no. 753 dated 12 November 2014 19 November 2014 Not yet in force 
12 UAE MoU 2012 22 January 2012  Not yet in force 
Source: Information provided by the Albanian authorities.  
2.25.  These agreements complement trade and ec onomic cooperation agreements in force with: 
Argentina; Austria; Bulgaria; China; Croatia; the Czech Republic; Egypt; France; Germany; 
Greece; Israel; Italy; FYROM; Malaysia; the Netherlands; Poland; Romania; Russia; Serbia and 
Montenegro; Switzerland; Turkey; Ukraine; the United States; and Uruguay. According to official sources, these agreements are intended to promote trade and economic cooperation.
13  
2.26.  Albania is entitled to benefit from the GS P schemes of Canada, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, 
and the United States. In addition, since 2000, Albania (together with other Western Balkan countries) is eligible for preferential treatment in the EU market under a waiver to GATT 
Article I:1. The waiver was originally set to expire in 2006, but was extended until 31 December 
                                               
11 For a detailed analysis of the provisions of these agreements, see the previous TPR report WTO 
(2010), Table 2.2, page 24. 
12 See documents WT/REG240/1, WT/REG240/M/1,  WT/REG292/1/Rev.1 and WT/REG292/M/1. 
13 Albinvest online info rmation. Viewed at: www.aida.gov.al  WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  2015.14 The EU has further extended this waiver until 2020 and legal procedures to that effect in 
the EU are underway.  
2.27.   The relationship of Albania with the EU continues to be governed by the 2009 Stabilisation 
and Association Agreement (SAA), but Albania obtained the status of EU candidate country in June 
2014, following a recommendation by the EU Commission in October 2013, and by end 2016 will 
receive a date from the EU for initiating accession negotiations. In addition to the institutional structure of the SAA, joint working groups to prepare the accession process were established in 
September 2014. The joint working groups (JWG) were formed for each of the five following 
priorities (public administration, reform of the judicial system, fight against corruption, fight against organized crime, fundamental rights). Th e JWGs are composed of the representatives of 
Albanian institutions and their respective counterparts from the European Commission. The JWGs 
have been meeting every three or four months since last September, generally to prepare the High 
Level Dialogue meetings. At the end of each JWG meeting, the European Commission follows up with recommendations, which become part of the working plan over the following months for the 
Albanian institutions. 
2.28.  Between 2007 and 2013 Albania received €594 million of financial assistance under the 
Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA II). Under the IPA II programme Albania will benefit 
from a total of €640 million of assistance (of which €66 million in 2014 and €89 million in 2015) 
over the period 2014-2020. There is no trade-specific programme under the aegis of the IPA II.  
2.29.  In the context of the approximation an d pre-accession processes, the EU is closely 
monitoring not only political and macro-economic  developments in Albania but also the future 
ability of the country to take on the obligations of membership in the following areas: free 
movement of goods (including standardization, co nformity assessment, accreditation, metrology, 
market surveillance); free movement of workers; coor dination of social security systems; right of 
establishment and freedom to provide services (including mutual recognition of qualifications); 
free movement of capital (including modernization of payments systems and fight against money laundering); public procurement; company law; intellectual property law; competition policy; state 
aids; information society and media policy; agricultural policy; food safety, veterinary and phyto-
sanitary policy; fisheries; transport policy; energy; taxation; statistics; social policy and employment; enterprise and industrial policy pr inciples; trans-European networks; environment; 
consumer and health protection; and customs union.  
2.4  Investment Regime  
2.30.   Albania is ranked by the World Bank's "Doing Business Report 2016" at 97
th position out of 
189 countries covered by the report. Its ranking accord ing to the various criteria of this report is 
described in Table 2.3. 
Table 2.3 World Bank 'doing business' indica tors for Albania, and their recent evolution 
Topics DB 2016 Rank DB 2015 Rank Change in Rank 
Starting a business 58 54 -4 
Dealing with construction permits 189 122 -67 
Getting electricity 162 159 -3 
Registering property 107 104 -3 
Getting credit 42 36 -6 
Protecting minority investors 8 18 10 
Paying taxes 142 130 -12 
Trading across borders 37 37 No change 
Enforcing contracts 96 96 No change 
Resolving insolvency 42 40 -2 
Source: World Bank online information. Viewed at: http://www.doingbusiness.org  
 
                                               
14 WTO documents WT/L/380, 13 December 2000; WT/L/380/Corr.1, 8 January 2001; and WT/L/654, 
2 August 2006.  Under the terms of this waiver, the EU is required to submit an annual report to the WTO 
General Council.  For the most recent report, see WTO document WT/L/763, 21 July 2009. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  2.31.  Many of the issues underlined by those ra nkings (notably the enforcement of law and of 
contracts, the granting of property titles, and the size of the informal economy) have been 
acknowledged by the Albanian authorities and integrated in the Business and Investment 
Development Strategy for 2014-2020, which has been partially described above. The objectives 
spelt out in this strategy for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) are to maintain a high level of FDI for 
the next seven years; to achieve long-term sustainability of investment by promoting reinvestment and expansion of existing investments; to increase the share of greenfield and 
export-oriented investments; and to increase the share of value-added and high-tech investment. 
To this effect the investment-promotion agency (AIDA – Albanian Investment Development Agency) will serve as a one-stop shop for FDI (excep t for registration), and will cover all stages of 
investments, i.e. pre-investment (information  dissemination, sector studies and analysis, 
investment assessment, partner match-up, a ssistance-to-investor visit), investment per se  
(assistance to investment start-up and locating procedures) and post investment (assistance for operational problems). It will also be empowered to negotiate specific incentives for investors. 
2.32.  The Albanian legal framework on foreign direct investment is defined by Law No. 7764 of 
2 November 1993 "On Foreign Investment", as amended by Law No. 10316 of 16 September 2010, and which allowed for a special state-protection regime. However, no request for such a 
regime was ever filed and in the absence of any application, provision for it expired on 
31 December 2014. 
2.33.  In addition a new law on strategic investment, covering foreign and domestic investments, 
has just entered in force. Law No. 55/2015 of 28 May 2015 "On strategic investments in the 
Republic of Albania" lays down the procedures an d rules to be implemented by government bodies 
during the examination of strategic investments as well as the support and services provided to strategic national or foreign investors. 
2.34.  The law foresees the establishment of a Committee on Strategic Investment, as a collegial 
body of the Council of Ministers,  and headed by the prime minister. The committee will attribute to 
investments either the status of 'assisted investment' or of 'strategic investment' where special 
additional support is provided by the administration . AIDA will play the role of secretariat of the 
Committee on Strategic Investments. The implementing legislation based on Law No. 55/2015 entered into force on January 2016  
2.35.   The law defines the following sectors as strategic: energy and mining; transport; 
infrastructure; electronic communications and urban waste; tourism; agriculture; and fisheries. For 
each strategic sector, the law stipulates the minimum invested capital necessary to be recognised as a strategic investment.  The law establishes procedures for strategic investments and creates 
facilitating rules or accelerating administrative processes in order to achieve the main goal of 
promoting and attracting  public, private, domestic and foreign investment in the strategic sectors. 
Investments in the areas of technology and economic development are also defined as strategic 
investments under the law. Technological and economic development areas benefit from specific 
incentives under the new law on Technical and Economic Development Areas described below. 
2.36.  The Law on Strategic Investment also provides for the setting up of a fund of state-owned 
immovable properties so as to provide land, buildings and infrastructures for a symbolic rent to 
investors. The rules on the use of these immovable properties in support of strategic investors will 
be approved by the Council of Ministers. In orde r to implement that provision and administer the 
provision of land to investors, the State Aid Co mmission issued its Decision No. 58 of 13 July 2015 
"On the state aid scheme for the implementation of strategic investments", stipulating that the 
State Aid Commission will examine each state aid provided under Law No. 55/2015 of 28 May 
2015. AIDA will report to the State Aid Commission each year on the state aid provided under this 
Law. 
2.37.   Another significant development regarding investment incentive is the decision by the 
Council of Ministers No. 647 of 22 July 2015 implementing the recent amendment by Law No. 
54/2015 of 28 May 2015 of the Law No. 9789 of 19  July 2007 on the establishment and operation 
of technological and economic development areas. Before the 2015 amendment, Albanian 
legislation stipulated only that 'goods entering the free economic zone from licensed persons, and services offered within the zone, are exempted fr om custom duties and value-added tax'. The new 
amendments have reinforced the fiscal, administrative and procedural incentives and made them 
more favourable to both nati onal and foreign investors. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  2.38.  The developers and users are exempt from  the payment of the 50% tax-on-profit rate for 
the first five years from the commencement of their activity in the area; 20% of the annual capital expenses are recognized as deductible expenses of the tax period for the developer and user investing in the area, for a period of 2 years, notwithstanding the repayment amounts; the project 
of the developer is exempted from the tax of infrastructure impact: constructions realized in this 
area are exempted from the tax of immovable property for a five-year-period; the developers or users of the area are exempted from the tax on transferring the right of ownership on immovable 
properties; supply of Albanian goods, are considered  as supply for export with zero level, expenses 
for salaries and social and health contribution s which the employer pays for the employee, are 
deductible for 150% of their amount during the fi rst fiscal year of activity operation. In the 
following years, additional expenses for salaries, in relation to the previous year, are deductible 
expenses for 150% of their amount; and the cost s of training the employees and expenses for 
scientific research are accepted deductible for 200% of their value, for a 10-year period. 
2.39.  In terms of licensing for both national and foreign investors, in 2009 Albania adopted a 
single window system. It is contained in Law No. 10081 of 23 February 2009 on licences, 
authorizations and permits in the Republic of Albania", and in its implementing regulation, the Decision of the Council of Ministers DCM No . 538 of 26 May 2009, "On licences and permits 
handled by or through the National Licensing Centre (NLC)".  
2.40.  Licences and permits that are handled by or through NLC are divided into 3 groups. Group 1 
includes those categories or subcategories for whic h the evaluation of criter ia fulfilment is based 
solely on the self-declarations of the applicant. Group 2 includes those categories or subcategories 
for which the evaluation of criteria fulfilment, apart from the self-declarations of the applicant, at 
least for one of the conditions, is based on the supporting documents submitted by the applicant. 
Group 3 includes those categories or subcategories for which the evaluation of the fulfilment of the 
criteria for at least one of them is based on a process of inspection, testing, competition, interview, 
or any other method of evaluation. 
2.41.  The procedure involves two or three phases  depending on the group: First an electronic 
registration, which lasts an average of 10 to 40 minutes, then either an approval or rejection 
within 2 working days for group 1 or a transmission to the line ministry within 4 working days for groups 2 and 3. The line ministry then assigns a physical person who shall be responsible for the 
application and publishes his name electronically. The file is instructed according to the various 
time-frames set by the respective sectoral legislation, a non publication triggering after a set delay 
silent consent.  
2.42.   This system has been reinforced by a rece nt deregulation reform. This reform will suppress 
a certain number of licensing requirements wh ile extending the scope of the single window 
managed by the National Licensing Centre for the remaining authorizations. To that effect, an ad hoc working group reviewed all existing authorizations.  
2.43.  Based on this report, Law No. 6/2015 of 12 February 2015 "On some amendments and 
addenda to Law No. 10081 of 23 February 2009 "On licences, authorisations and permits in the Republic of Albania", was prepared and adopted. The amendments stipulate that certain categories 
of authorisations, under the competency of the centra l institutions, as well as their issuing will be 
carried out in accordance with the conditions and procedures stipulated by Law No. 10081 of 
23 February 2009 through the National Licensing Centre. 
2.44.  Regarding business registration, e-registration has just been put in place by Law No. 8/2015 
of 19 February 2015 "On some amendments and addenda to Law No 9723 of 3.05.2007 "On 
National Registration Centre". This law partially approximates the Directive 2009/101/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 September 2009. The corresponding online 
application has been operational since February  2015. Between February and September 2015 it 
had already processed over 15,000 electronic requests, most of which were related to the annual filing of accounting sheets and audit reports. 
2.45.  The Albanian legal framework for public-private partnerships (PPP) and Concessions is 
defined by Law No. 125/2013 and Council of Ministers Decree No. 575/2013 "Rules for evaluation 
concession and PPP" amended in August 2015. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  2.46.   The law stipulates that Concessions/PPPs may be awarded for the realization of works 
and/or provision of services in and for the following sectors and purposes: 
a. Transport (railway system, rail transport, ports, airports, roads, tunnels, bridges, 
parking, public transport); 
  
b. Generation and distribution of electricity and heating energy; 
 
c. Production and distribution of water, treatment, collection distribution and 
administration of waste water, irrigation, drainage, cleaning of canals and dams; 
  d. Waste management, including their collection, transfer, treatment and disposal; 
 
e. Telecommunication; 
 
f. Science and Education; 
  g. Tourism, Leisure and hospitality; 
 
h. Culture and Sports; 
 i. Health; 
 
j. Social services; 
  
k. Prison and judicial infrastructure; 
 l. Rehabilitation of land and forests; 
  
m. Industrial parks, mines and similar business support infrastructure; 
  n. Housing; 
 
o. Public administration facilities, IT and data base infrastructure; 
 
p. Natural gas distribution; 
 q. Urban and suburban rehabilitation and development; 
 
r. Public lighting in local administrative bodies territory; 
 s. Agriculture. 
 
2.47.   The decision to create a PPP lies with the Council of Ministers, upon the proposal of the line 
ministries or, upon proposals, which they receive from local government units or central bodies. 
The 2015 amendments have reinforced the administrative capacities to assess the costs and 
benefits of PPP by assigning a role of coordinator and legal control to the Ministry of Economy and 
to its specialized body, the Concession Treatment Agency, at every stage of the projects (namely 
preparation of feasibility study; preparation of competitive procedure; evaluation and 
determination of the best offers; negotiations and conclusion of concession contracts and monitoring of the concession contract). The Ministry  of Finance is assigned to give prior approval 
related to affordability, sustainability and fiscal feasibility in case where financial support from the 
Government is required. It is also asked to give its prior approval for all planned changes which 
affect or create a risk of direct or indirect impact on the state budget or local authority budget. 
2.48.  The concession treatment Agency is also  tasked with proposing amendments to the PPP 
legislation and studying and analysing the global tr ends and experiences in this field. The agency 
is also designing the registry of concession/ PPP which is due for 2016 and which will collect and 
organize information related to concession/PPP contracts. 
2.49.  Regarding multilateral treaties on investment protection, Albania has ratified both the New 
York Convention of 1958 and the Geneva Conventi on of 1961 on 27 June 2001. It is member of WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  the ICSID Washington Convention 1965 since 1991 an d of the Energy Charter Treaty 1994, which 
it ratified on 15 December 1997. In addition, most of the bilateral investment treaties that Albania has entered with other states contain dispute resolution provisions by international arbitration.  
2.50.  Albania also has ratified the World Bank's Multilateral Investment Guarantees Agency 
(MIGA) Convention since 1991. Since 2010, Albania ha s been host country to three projects in the 
banking sector and energy sector. There have been no disputes related to those projects. 
2.51.  According to Law 7764, of 2 November 1993, disputes between a foreign investor and a 
private Albanian party, state enterprise or public administration shall be resolved according to the 
procedure agreed between the parties. In case the parties have not agreed on the dispute settlement procedure, the foreign investor may a ddress the Albanian court or arbitration body. 
Disputes related to the expropriation, compensation following expropriation or unequal treatment, 
as well as expatriation of funds and contributions in kind related to a foreign investment may be 
submitted to ICSID. International arbitration decisions related to foreign investments are final and irrevocable for the parties in dispute. Law 7764/1993 stipulates that Albania is committed to 
recognize and enforce any international arbitration award concerning a dispute relating to foreign 
investment. Moreover, in case any provision of Law 7764/1993 is not in conformity with international agreements ratified by Albania, the la tter will prevail to the extent that they provide 
greater rights or protection for foreign investors. 
2.52.  During the period under review Albania co mpleted its network of bilateral investments by 
signing agreements with Cyprus (2010), Malta (2011), Qatar (2011) Azerbaijan (2012), San Marino (2012), Kosovo (2015) and United Arab Emirates (2015). All these recent agreements have 
entered into force except those with Qatar, Koso vo and United Arab Emirates. In addition the 
agreement signed in 2007 with Kuwait entered into  force in 2013. This brings the total of BIT 
partners of Albania to 45, 42 of which are in force.
15 Albania is currently finalizing or negotiating 
BITs with Canada, Iceland, Lebanon and Morocco.  
2.53.   Regarding double taxation agreements, Albani a is linked with 84 states by the Multilateral 
Competent Authority Agreement on standard exch anges of information of the Global Forum on 
Transparency, based on Article 6 of the OECD conv ention on Convention on Mutual Administrative 
Assistance in Tax Matters. Furthermore, Albania has signed double taxation agreements with Poland (1993), Croatia (1994), Italy (1994), Mala ysia (1994), Turkey (1994), the Czech Republic 
(1995), Greece (1995), Hungary (1995), Romania (1995), Russia (1995), Bulgaria (1998), FYROM 
(1998), Norway (1998), Sweden (1998), Malta ( 2000), Moldova (2002), China (2004), France 
(2004), Kosovo (2004), Netherlands (2004), Serbia (2004), Egypt (2005), Estonia (2005 and 2010), Montenegro (2005), the Republic of Kore a (2006), Austria (2007), Bosnia and Herzegovina 
(2008), Latvia (2008), Slovenia (2008), Irelan d (2009), Luxemburg (2009), Germany (2010), 
Kuwait (2010), Singapore (2010), Spain (2010), India (2013), the United Arab Emirates (2014) and the United Kingdom (2014). All these conventions have entered into force except for those 
with Estonia (revision), India and the United Arab Emirates. Albania also continues to negotiate 
double taxation agreements with new jurisdictions. 
 
                                               
15 Austria, Azerbaijan, BLEU (Belgium-Luxemburg Economic Union), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, 
China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic  ,  Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France , Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, 
Italy,  Republic of Korea, Lithuania,  FYROM, Malaysia, Malta, Moldova, Ne therlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, 
Russian Federation, San Marino,  Serbia, Slovenia, Spai n, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, 
United Kingdom, and the United States.   WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  3  TRADE POLICIES AND PRACTICES BY MEASURE 
3.1  Measures Directly Affecting Imports  3.1.1  Customs procedures and requirements 3.1.  The General Directorate of Customs, under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance, is 
responsible for customs procedures in Albania. Organizational changes that have taken place in the 
Customs Administration since 2010 include the esta blishment of the Excise Department in August 
2012 by the entry into force of the new law "On Excises in the Republic of Albania" and its 
implementing provisions.
1  
3.2.  Albania's main legislation governing customs issues includes the Customs Code and its 
implementing regulations including the Decision  of the Council of Ministers (DCM) No. 205 "On 
Implementing Provisions of Customs Code".2 A new customs code, which is intended to further 
reflect the acquis communautaire  and EU standards in the area of customs, was adopted on 31 
July 2014 (Law No. 102/2014)3; the Code partially entered into force on 6 September 2014 and on 
1 January 2015. Law No. 102/2014 was amended by Law No. 32/2015 of 2 April 2015 "On some 
amendments and additions to the Law No. 102/2014". This amendment, inter alia,  allows duty-
free shops to be opened at land and maritime borders that are under the Customs' supervision and 
control. The partial entry into force of the new code on 1 January 2015 involved, inter alia,  
provisions for authorized economic operators, si mplified procedures, and exemption from import 
duties. Where the new code is not yet in force, the previous version of the Customs Code (Law No. 8449 of 27 January 1999) still applies. The authoritie s envisage that the remaining part of the new 
code will enter into force on 1 June 2017, at which time the old customs code will be entirely 
repealed. The authorities consider that the new customs code is in full compliance with, inter alia,  
Regulation of the European Parliament and Council No. 952/2013 (9 October 2013) "Union 
Customs Code", and is partially aligned with some other acts of the EU. The authorities indicate 
that after the implementing provisions of EU Re gulation No. 952/2013 are adopted, Albania will 
start aligning its national provisions with them.  
3.3.  Albanian customs legislation does not contain a general requirement for importers or 
exporters to be registered.
4 Since 2010, there have been no changes to specific circumstances 
where importers must be registered to clear customs.5 An authorization must be requested for the 
importation (or exportation) of dual-use goods.6 The authorities note that registration in the 
                                               
1 Under the new law (Excise Law), the Customs Administration is responsible for (1) the administration 
of the excise tax regarding imports an d domestic production; (2) the abolition of three Regional Directorates in 
2013; (3) the establishment of scanning offices in five  Customs branches; and (4) the establishment of the 
Information Directorate that aims, inter alia,  to perform customs operations through computer systems and 
online operations. Other changes include the establishment of the Anti-corruption and Interior Investigation Directorate in November 2010. The Directorate investigates infringements of the Ethics Code or possible cases of corruption denounced by citizens or economic operat ors, or otherwise based on information provided by 
parties inside or outside the institution. 
2 DCM No. 205 has been amended by: DCM No. 366 (30 April 2015) "On some amendments and 
additions on the Decision No. 205 (13 April 1999)", regarding, inter alia,  simplified customs procedures and 
authorized economic operator (AEO) exemptions; DCM No. 919 (29 December 2014) "On implementing provisions of Law No. 102/2014 (31 July 2014)"; and DCM No. 921 (29 December 2014) "On the employees of the customs administration". 
3 The new law is intended to approximate: (1 ) Regulation of the European Parliament 952/2013 
(9 October 2013) "Customs Code of the Union"; (2) Council Regulation (EC) No. 1186/2009 (16 November 2009) on exemption from customs duties; (3) Council Directive 2007/74/EC (20 December 2007) on exemptions from the value-added tax for goods imported by travellers; (4) European Commission proposal for 
a Directive of the European Parliame nt and the Commission on violation and sanctions in the customs field; 
and (5) European Commission Release 169/2008 on miss ions and objectives of customs authorities. 
4 All businesses must register at the National Regist ration Centre (NRC) and obtain a unique ID number; 
the number is used in all import/export transactions. 
5 WTO (2010). 
6 Dual-use goods are defined as certain kinds of  products, equipment, materials, software and 
technologies not specially designed for military purpos es and for works and services  related to them, which, 
besides being used for civil purposes, are also used in the design, production, and us e of weapons intended for 
military purposes, weapons of mass destruction, the ways for their proliferation or the proliferation of explosive 
and nuclear equipment, including several types of nuclea r materials, chemical bacteriological and biological 
agents, and toxic mixtures. The list of dual-use good s is approved by DCM No. 106 of 9 February 2011. The WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  customs system has the purpose of improving contro l over the licences or permits issued by other 
competent bodies. The Single Administrative Document for customs entries is stamped by customs officers charged with verification, physical control, and control of valuation.
7 
3.4.  All customs procedures are processed through a centralized electronic system. Since 2010, 
Albania has continued to use the Automatic System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA World). In 2013, 
a module for online payment was introduced. The rules for processing imports (and exports) are contained in the Customs Code and its implementing regulations. 
3.5.  Data provided by the authorities indicate that in 2014 average release time for imports per 
consignment was about 21.5 hours for sea cargos (compared to 18.9 hours in 2010), 4.3 hours for air cargos (10.1 hours in 2010), and 2.3 hours for cargos by road transport (4.1 hours in 2010).  
3.6.  In order to conduct risk analysis, Customs  uses a selectivity module stored in the ASYCUDA 
World system. The authorities state that risk indicators may relate to a particular commodity code, 
country of origin, value of goods, means of transp ortation, blacklist of unreliable companies, etc. 
The authorities indicate that approximately 10% of goods passed through the red channel were 
subject to inspection at the border in recent years.  
3.7.  Certain goods must be processed in specific customs offices; the authorities state that this is 
mostly because of the nature of the goods. Such is the case for fuels (at the Durres customs 
office), and goods for use in civil aircraft (at Rinas Airport). Imports of live animals, fresh fruit, and 
vegetables are processed at the border crossing point.  
3.8.  Albania has taken further initiatives to step up border security. Key objectives are set out in: 
(1) the action plan on integrated border management for 2010-2014; (2) the strategy and action 
plan for border management for the period 2014-2020
8; and (3) the integrated project for the 
detection of radioactive materials outside the regulating system in collaboration with the International Energy Agency.  
3.9.  When a shipment consists of goods with different tariff classifications and treatment and this 
creates a considerable amount of work and expens e, considering the amount of the import duties 
to be paid, in accordance with Article 161 of Law No. 102/2014 and based on an application by the 
declarant, the customs authorities may decide to  apply the same customs duties to all cargo, 
based on the tariff subheading with the highest level of customs duty on import.
9 
3.10.  Albanian legislation allows for different customs regimes: (1) free circulation10; (2) 
processing under customs control11; (3) inward processing regime12; (4) temporary admission 
                                                                                                                                               
authorities maintain that this list is in line with the EU Council Regulation (EC) No. 428/2009, Annex I (last 
updated in 2010).  
7 Under the Customs Code's implementing provisions (Article 142), the main documents required by 
customs for imported (or exported) g oods are a commercial invoice and a transport document (airway bill or 
bill of lading).  Other documents that may be required in specific cases include:  a certificate of origin, a summary declaration or commercial document containing particulars necessary to identify the goods, a packing 
list, a quality certificate, a contract, and a bank transaction payment slip.  A phytosanitary certificate is required for imports of fruits, vege tables, seeds, and other plants, and a heath certificate is required for 
livestock products, pharmaceut icals, and processed food.   
8 DCM No. 119 of 5 March 2014 "Adoption of the Nation al Strategy for Integrated Management Border 
Action Plan, 2014-2020". 
9 On 1 January 2015, Albania repealed Article 104 of Law No. 8449/1999. 
10 The normal import regime, by which goods enter into  the customs territory of Albania permanently, is 
subject to the payment of the releva nt import duties and other taxes. 
11 Under this regime, imported goods are subject to  transformation operations, without payment of 
import duties.  Authorizations for pr ocessing under customs control are issued at the request of the interested 
person and are granted only: (a) to persons located in Alba nia; (b) for imported goods that can be identified in 
the processed products; and (c) when the operation crea tes or maintains a processing activity in Albania, 
without sacrificing the interests of Albanian producers of  similar products.  Duty is payable when the finished 
product is put into free circulation. 
12 The inward processing regime allows foreign goods to undergo transformation or processing 
operations in Albania's customs territory without the appl ication of tariffs or other trade measures, except for 
customs processing fees, provided th at resulting products are exported. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  regime13; (5) outward processing regime14; (6) customs warehouse regime15; and (7) a transit 
regime.16 
3.11.  In 2014, the General Directorate of Custom s granted 1,005 authorizations. Of these, 574 
were granted for inward processing under cust oms control, 388 for temporary admission, 12 for 
customs warehouses, and 22 for the outward processing regime.  
3.12.  Economic operators or their legal representatives may write to the customs authorities 
requesting a decision on the application of customs rules; this must be provided by Customs within 
30 days. The economic operators have ten days within which to appeal this decision to the 
Director-General of Customs, who is obliged to re spond within 20 days either accepting or denying 
the appeal.17 In accordance with the Customs Code and its regulations, importers may also appeal 
decisions by Customs that a customs violation has taken place.18 Appeals must be made in writing 
to the Director-General of Customs within five days of the notification of a Customs decision in 
cases where fines were applied, or ten days in cases where the appeal relates to customs value or customs rules. If fines were applied, appellant s must pay the total amount of customs duties 
legally due, and deposit in advance into a bank account of the General Directorate of Customs an 
amount equal to 40% of the total fine. The Director-General of Customs must decide on the appeal within 30 days. If the appeal is accepted, the deposited amount is paid back, and if rejected, the 
appellant must pay the remainder of the fine.
19 If the appeal is rejected, the appellant can present 
a further court appeal within 30 days of the notification of rejection without being obliged to pay the remaining 60% of the total amount of the fine applied, as a condition for court appeal.
20 If the 
court rules in favour of the appellant, the amount  of the fine is returned. 2,742 appeals against 
customs decisions were lodged between January 2010 and November 2015, mainly concerning 
value of goods; origin of goods; tariff classifica tion; differences of quantity, weight, and quality; 
customs regimes (authorizations); and excise. The authorities note that the customs 
administration won around 63% of appeals in court in 2010, 75% in 2011, 73% in 2012, 57% in 
2013, 72% in 2014, and 72% in 2015 (January to November).  
3.13.  In accordance with Law No. 61/2015 of 24 May 2012 "On excises in the Republic of 
Albania", which entered into force on 1 October 2012, the Customs administration is responsible 
for the excise taxes (Section 3.1.5.2).21 Complaints regarding excises are examined in accordance 
with this law.   
3.14.  Albania submitted its Category A notification under the Agreement on Trade Facilitation 
(TFA) on 10 September 2014.22 The authorities state that legal procedures to ratify the TFA are in 
progress. 
3.15.  Albania is a member of the World Customs Organization. It has signed bilateral agreements 
on customs assistance with: Austria (signed in 2008); Bulgaria (2003); Croatia (2003); Cyprus 
(2006); Egypt (2015); Greece (1993); Italy (1998); Kosovo (2009); Former Yugoslav Republic of 
                                               
13 Under the temporary admission re gime, imported goods destined fo r re-export can be used in the 
Albanian custom territory, completely or partially exempt ed from import duties, for up to a year, provided they 
do not undergo any transformation. 
14 Under the outward processing regi me, Albanian products may be expo rted temporarily for processing 
and re-imported with complete or pa rtial exception from import duties. 
15 Under the customs warehouse regime, products may be stored temporarily in Albania without 
payment of im port duties. 
16 Goods entering Albania under the transit regime (in transit to a foreign country) are exempt from 
customs duty, VAT, and excise taxes. 
17 Articles 18 to 20 of Law No. 8449/1999.  
18 Customs violations include both administrative violations (including those related to customs 
valuation) as well as smuggling. 
19 Customs Code Title VIII. The amount of fine was modified as Article 267 was amended by Article 292 
of Law No. 102/2014, which entered into force on 6 September 2014. 
20 Article 289/5 of Law No. 8449 of 29 January 1999 was amended by Decision No. 18 of 23 April 2010 
of the Constitutional Court, which abolished the part of the paragraph 'must pay the rest of 60% of the fine'.  
21 The authorities state that the law approximated CE Directive No. 2008/118 concerning excise (Celex 
32008L0118); Council Directive 2003/96/EC of 27 October 2003 (Celex 32003L0096); Directive 92/83/EEC of 
19 October 1992 (Celex 31992L0083); Directive 92/84 EEC of 19 October 1992 (Celex 31992L0084); Directive 
92/12/EEC of 25 February 1992 (Celex 31992L0012); and Council Decision of 22 June 2006.   
22 WTO document WT/PCTF/N/ALB/1, 10 September 2014. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  Macedonia (1998); Moldova (2004); Romania (2004); Serbia (2015); Slovenia (2005); Spain 
(2009); and Turkey (2007).23 Albania is also a member of the Istanbul Convention.24  
3.16.  Under Law No. 8449/1999 (Articles 3/d/v and 10/2/d), the customs authorities have the 
power to negotiate, prepare and sign internatio nal agreements and conventions in the customs 
field. Under Article 25, customs authorities are prevented from disclosing confidential information; 
while, in accordance with Article 20 (2), confidential information can be transmitted to customs authorities and other relevant authorities of countries or territories outside the customs area of 
Albania for cooperation purposes, based on an international agreement or national legislation in 
the field of trade. The authorities state that one of the strategic principles of the customs 
authorities is to strengthen international cooperation or mutual assistance in customs matters, through agreements with other countries and increased participation in international fora 
responsible for international law.  
3.17.  Albania does not make use of pre-shipment inspection services.  3.1.2  Customs valuation 
3.18.  Albania's rules on customs valuation are contained in Articles 33 to 40 of the Law No. 
8449/1999 and in Articles 54 to 69 of its implementing regulations (including DCMs Nos. 205, 366, 919 and 921).  Since its previous review in 2010, Albania submitted no new notification to the WTO 
concerning customs valuation.
25  
3.19.  Law No. 8449/1999 specifies that the transaction value of imported goods should be the 
primary basis to determine customs value. Where th is is not possible, the sequence of methods set 
out in the WTO Agreement on Customs Valuation is to be followed. The transaction value includes 
the costs of transportation, insurance, and freight.  The use of minimum values or reference prices 
is prohibited. The authorities state that ar ound 86-89% of the total number of imported 
consignments was subject to transaction value methods for valuation purposes during the period 
under review. Under-invoicing is still of concern for goods originating from certain areas. The 
authorities maintain that Customs addresses requests from customs authorities of EU countries for verification based on the Protocol 6 'on customs mutual assistance' of the 'Stabilization and 
Association Agreement' of 1 April 2009. With th e Italian customs, an MoU exists under which 
monthly data are exchanged between Albania and Italy for consignments over €25,000 with a view to detecting under-invoicing.  
3.20.  Exchange rates used for customs valuation purposes are determined each month and are 
valid from the 6
th of the month to the 5th of the following month. The rates used are those 
published by the Bank of Albania at the end of the month preceding this period.26  
3.1.3  Rules of origin 
3.21.  Albania's non-preferential rules of origin  are contained in Chapter 2 of the Customs Code 
(Law No. 8449 of 27 January 1999, Articles 29 to 31) , and Articles 44 to 46 of the Implementing 
Provisions of the Customs Code, as approved by DCM No. 2051 of 13 April 1999.27 Under Albania's 
legislation, the country of origin of a good is de fined as where it was wholly obtained or produced 
or last substantially processed.28 The stated purpose of non-preferential rules of origin includes the 
implementation of Albania's customs tariff, as well as other trade policy measures. While origin is self-declared, a certificate of origin from the appropriate authority in the exporting country is 
                                               
23 Albanian Customs online information. View ed at: http://www.dogana.gov.al/sq/node/109/ 
24 The Istanbul Convention on temporary admission (26 June 1990) combines all existing Conventions 
on temporary admission and provides simplified and ha rmonized procedures and standardized model Customs 
documents for the temporary importation of goods. 
25 Albania's most recent notification submitted to the Committee on Customs Valuation is WTO 
document G/VAL/N/3/ALB/1, 27 November 2007.   
26 The only exception is when the exchange rate at the moment of the transact ion differs by more than 
5% from the monthly published rate, in whic h case, the former rate will be used.  
27 WTO document G/RO/N/53, 18 September 2007.  
28 Under Article 30 of Law No. 8449/1999, "Goods for which production involves more than one country 
shall be deemed to originate in the country where they underwent their last substantial, economically justified 
processing or working in an undertaking equipped for that purpose and resulting in the manufacture of a new 
product or representing an important stage of manufacture." WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  required when the origin of the goods influences  the customs value, or in cases where imports 
from a particular country of origin are prohibited. The Customs Administration may, in case of serious doubt, require additional proof of origin.  
3.22.  Albania maintains preferential rules of origin  in the context of its free-trade agreements with 
the EU, EFTA partners, CEFTA partners, and Turkey. Rules for determining preferential origin of 
goods are defined in Article 32 of Law No. 8449/1999 and Articles 47-52 of the Implementing Provisions of the Customs Code as well as the protocol of origin in free trade agreements to which 
Albania is party. In line with regional integration efforts, rules of origin are similar across each of 
these agreements. Origin is conferred on products that: are wholly obtained or produced in a country; incorporate non-originating materials that account for 10% (or 15% in the case of sets) or less of the ex-works price or the product (excluding HS chapters 50 to 63); or contain third-
country material that has then undergone sufficient working or processing. The specific criteria for 
sufficient working or processing are set out in annexes to each FTA. For imports into Albania, diagonal cumulation applies within the CEFTA parties as well as within CEFTA parties participating 
in the EU Stabilization and Association Process,  the EU and Turkey (SAP cumulation). Thus, 
products manufactured in one of the parties, incorp orating materials from any of the other parties, 
need not satisfy the sufficient-processing criteria to confer origin; processing must, however, go 
beyond minor operations such as being packaged or cleaned.  
3.23.  Under the CEFTA, diagonal cumulation may be extended to EFTA and other parties 
participating in the Stabilization and Association Process as long as rules of origin are identical and that FTAs with these countries are in force. Th e FTA between Albania and Turkey allows for the 
cumulation of origin for materials covered by  the EU-Turkey trade agreement and products 
originating in the EU, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Only bilateral cumulation under the Albania-EFTA FTA applies among Albania and 
EFTA countries. Albania has adopted and has been applying the Pan Euro-Mediterranean 
Convention on Rules of Origin (PEM) since 1 May 2012.  
3.24.  To qualify for preferential treatment, good s must be transported directly between parties to 
the respective FTA or, if transported through othe r territories, remain under the surveillance of 
customs authorities; evidence to this effect is required. In addition, non-originating materials used in the manufacture of originating products may no t be subject to drawback  of, or exemption from, 
customs duties when products are exported.  
3.1.4  Tariffs 
3.25.  Import duties accounted for around 1.6% of total government revenue in 2014, and for 
some 1.3% of the value of imports. Albania levies  customs duties on the c.i.f. value of imports. 
The tariff is amended through the passage of laws: five such laws were passed between 2010 and 
2015. The last tariff amendment was introduced on 27 November 2014.  
3.1.4.1  Applied tariffs 
3.26.  Albania's customs tariff is based on th e Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding 
system (HS 2012). The Combined Nomenclature (CN) 2015 comprises 9,386 tariff lines at the eight-digit level. Albania uses only ad valorem  tariffs and does not apply MFN tariff quotas; tariff 
quotas are applied under preferential duties. Near ly 49% of Albania's tariff lines are duty free 
(Table 3.1). 
Table 3.1 Structure of MFN tariffs in Albania, 2015 
(Per Cent) 
  MFN applied Final Bound a 
  2009 2015  
1. Bound tariff lines (% of all tariff lines) n.a n.a 100.0 
2. Simple average tariff rate 5.2 4.2 6.7 
 Agricultural products (WTO definition) 8.8 8.7 10.2 
 Non-agricultural products (WTO definition) 4.2 3.0 6.1 
 Agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing (ISIC 1) 5.4 5.0 7.9 
 Mining and quarrying (ISIC 2) 2.5 2.5 5.5 WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
- 36 - 
 
    MFN applied Final Bound a 
  2009 2015  
 Manufacturing (ISIC 3) 5.2 4.2 6.6 
3. Duty-free tariff lines (% of all tariff lines) 39.4 48.6 31.2 
4. Simple average rate of dutiable lines only 8.6 8.2 9.7 
5. Tariff quotas (% of al l tariff lines) 0.0 0.0 0.0 
6. Non-ad valorem tariffs (% of all tariff lines) 0.0 0.0 0.0 
7. Domestic tariff peaks (% of all tariff lines)b 0.0 11.8 0.0 
8. International tariff peaks (% of all tariff lines)c 0.0 0.0 14.7 
9. Overall standard deviation of applied rates 5.8 5.5 6.4 
10. Nuisance applied rates (% of all tariff lines)d 19.4 17.6 0.0 
n.a. Not applicable.    
     a Calculations for final bound rates are taken from the CTS database.    The final bound schedule is based on HS07 nomenclature and consists of 6,297 tariff lines. b Domestic tariff peaks are defined as those exceeding three times the overall simple average applied rate. c International tariff peaks are defined as those exceeding 15%.   d Nuisance rates are those greater than zero, but less than or equal to 2%.       
Note: 2009 tariff schedule is based on HS07 nomenclature consisting of 9,570 tariff lines at 8-digit level. 
 2015 tariff schedule is based on HS12 nomenclature consisting of 9,386 tariff lines at 8-digit level. 
Source: WTO Secretariat calculations, based on data prov ided by the Albanian author ities and WTO CTS database. 
3.27.  The overall simple average applied MFN tariff in 2015 was 4.2%. Tariffs range from duty 
free to 15%. The tariff comprises six rates: 0%, 2%, 5%, 6%, 10%, and 15%. The most 
frequently used rates, apart from 0%, are 2% and 10%.  
3.28.  Albania's average applied tariff is higher for agricultural products (WTO definition), at 8.7%, 
than for non-agricultural products, at 3.0% (Tables 3.2 and A3.1).  
Table 3.2 Albania's applied MFN tariff summary, 2015 
 Number 
of lines Simple 
average 
(%) Tariff 
range 
(%) Share of 
duty-free 
lines (%) SDa CVb 
Total 9,386  4.2 0 - 15  48.6 5.5 1.3 
HS 01-24 2,449  7.2 0 - 15  29.6 5.8 0.8 
HS 25-97 6,937 3.2 0 - 15 55.3 4.9 1.6 
By WTO category       
WTO agricultural products 2,068 8.7 0 - 15 11.4 5.1 0.6 
Animals and products thereof 351 9.1 0 - 15 2.3 3.3 0.4 
Dairy products 151 9.7 2 - 15 0.0 1.7 0.2 
Fruit, vegetables, and plants 503 11.2 2 - 15 0.0 3.4 0.3 
Coffee, tea, cocoa and cocoa 
preparations 47 10.9 0 - 15 4.3 3.5 0.3 
Cereals and preparations 230 6.7 0 - 15 4.8 4.5 0.7 
Oils seeds, fats, oil and their 
products 174 2.0 0 - 10 72.4 3.8 1.9 
Sugars and confectionary 44 6.0 0 - 10 2.3 4.1 0.7 
Beverages, spirits and tobacco 303 11.0 0 - 15 23.1 6.5 0.6 
Cotton 6 2.0 2.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 
Other agricultural products, n.e.s. 259 6.4 0 - 15 6.6 4.8 0.8 
WTO non-agricultural products  7,318 3.0 0 - 15 59.1 4.9 1.6 
Fish and fishery products 500 0.0 0 - 10 99.8 0.4 22.3 
Minerals and metals 1,442 4.5 0 - 15 46.8 5.9 1.3 
Chemicals and photographic 
supplies 1,232 1.6 0 - 10 48.9 2.0 1.3 
Wood, pulp, paper and furniture 438 0.3 0 - 15 95.7 1.8 6.5 
Textiles 850 5.0 0 - 15 38.1 5.0 1.0 
Clothing 341 0.0 0 100.0 0.0 0.0 
Leather, rubber, footwear and 
travel goods 264 8.5 0 - 15 23.9 6.0 0.7 
Non-electric machinery 882 0.5 0 - 10 88.9 2.0 3.7 
Electric machinery 447 2.9 0 - 10 56.8 4.2 1.4 
Transport equipment 253 3.1 0 - 15 40.3 5.0 1.6 
Non-agricultural products, n.e.s. 620 6.2 0 - 15 38.1 6.7 1.1 WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
- 37 - 
 
   Number 
of lines Simple 
average 
(%) Tariff 
range 
(%) Share of 
duty-free 
lines (%) SDa CVb 
Petroleum 49 3.8 0 - 10 51.0 4.6 1.2 
By ISIC sector c       
ISIC 1 - Agriculture, hunting and 
fishing 634 5.0 0 - 15 32.6 5.2 1.0 
ISIC 2 - Mining and quarrying 115 2.5 0 - 10 7.8 2.3 0.9 
ISIC 3 – Manufacturing 8,636 4.2 0 - 15 50.3 5.5 1.3 
By stage of processing        
First stage of processing 1,189 4.0 0 - 15 36.4 4.8 1.2 
Semi-processed products 2,755 2.0 0 - 15 60.4 3.4 1.7 
Fully processed products 5,442 5.4 0 - 15 45.2 6.0 1.1 
a Standard deviation. 
b Coefficient of variation. c International Standard Industrial Classification (Rev.2). Electricity, gas and water are excluded (1 tariff 
line). 
 Note: 2015 tariff schedule is based on HS12 nomenclature.  
  
Source: WTO Secretariat calculations, based on data provided by the Albanian authorities. 
3.1.4.2  Tariff bindings 
3.29.  All of Albania's tariffs are bound. The overall bound tariff average is 6.7%. There is hence 
only a small gap between the overall average applie d and bound rates. Agricultural products (WTO 
definition) are bound at an average rate of 10.2%, while the average bound rate for non-agricultural products is 6.1%. Based on the 2015 tariff schedule provided by the authorities and 
Albania's bound tariff schedule, applied MFN rates for some tariff lines exceed their corresponding 
bound rates; according to the authorities, Albania will rectify this situation in the near future (Table A3.2).  
3.1.4.3  Tariff preferences 
3.30.  Albania grants tariff preferences to EU member States, Turkey, EFTA and CEFTA countries. 
Imports from EU member countries face an average tariff of 0.8%; while imports of industrial 
products (HS chapters 25-97) are duty free, goods classified under HS chapters 1-24 face an 
average tariff of 3.2%. Similarly, regarding agricultural goods (WTO classification), imports from the EU are subject to an average rate of 3.8%, co mpared with an average MFN tariff rate of 8.7%, 
while non-agricultural imports originating in the EU enter Albania duty free, compared with an MFN 
rate of 3.0%, (Table 3.3). Preferences granted to imports from EFTA countries are similar to those 
granted to imports originating in the EU. Imports from Turkey enter at an average tariff rate of 
1.8%: non-agricultural products (WTO definition) face an average tariff of 0.1%, while the 
preferences granted for agriculture (WTO definition) are limited, since these imports enter at an 
average 8.3% tariff, just below the MFN rate. Albania offers duty-free access to all products from CEFTA countries.  
3.31.  Tariff rate quotas exist in preferential tariffs for Turkey and the EU; they existed in 
preferential tariffs for some CEFTA countries until 2011 (Table A3.3).  
Table 3.3 Albania's prefer ential tariff summary, 2015 
(Per cent)  
  MFN EC EFTA  Turkey  
 
Simple 
average 
Range 
Share of 
duty free 
lines 
Simple 
average 
Range 
Share of 
duty free 
lines 
Simple 
average 
Range 
Share of 
duty free 
lines 
Simple 
average 
Range 
Share of 
duty free 
lines 
Total 4.2  0-15 48.6 0.8  0-15  92.9 0.8 0-15  92.9 1.8 0-15 81.4 
HS 01-24 7.2 0-15 29.6 3.2 0-15 72.8 3.2 0-15 72.6 6.9 0-15 33.0 
HS 25-97  3.2 0-15 55.3 0.0  0.0 100.0  0.0 0.0 100.0 0.1 0-6  98.5 
By WTO category                  
WTO agricultural 
products 8.7 0-15 11.4 3.8  0-15 67.7 3.9 0-15 67.6 8.3 0-15  15.8 WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
- 38 - 
 
    MFN EC EFTA  Turkey  
 
Simple 
average 
Range 
Share of 
duty free 
lines 
Simple 
average 
Range 
Share of 
duty free 
lines 
Simple 
average 
Range 
Share of 
duty free 
lines 
Simple 
average 
Range 
Share of 
duty free 
lines 
Animals and 
products thereof 9.1 0-15 2.3 7.1 0-15 29.6 7.1 0-15 29.6 9.1 0-15 2.3 
Dairy products 9.7  2-15 0.0 4.4  0-15 57.0 4.4 0-15 57.0 9.7 2-15  0.0 
Fruit, vegetables, 
and plants 11.2 2-15 0.0 3.1 0-15 76.1 3.1 0-15 76.1 10.8 0-15 3.8 
Coffee, tea, and 
cocoa and cocoa preparations 10.9
 0-15 4.3 1.3  0-15 91.5 1.6 0-15 89.4 10.9 0-15  4.3 
Cereals and 
preparations 6.7 0-15 4.8 0.8 0-15 87.8 0.8 0-15 87.8 6.4 0-15 16.1 
Oils seeds, fats, oil 
and their products 2.0 0-10 72.4 0.2  0-10 98.3 0.2 0-10 98.3 1.8 0-10  77.6 
Sugars and 
confectionary 6.0 0-10 2.3 0.0 0.0 100.0  0.0 0.0 100.0 6.0 0-10 2.3 
Beverages, spirits 
and tobacco 11.0 0-15 23.1 8.6  0-15 42.6 8.6 0-15 42.6 10.5 0-15  26.1 
Cotton 2.0 2.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0  0.0 0.0 100.0 2.0 2.0 0.0 
Other agricultural 
products, n.e.s. 6.4 0-15 6.6 1.3  0-15 90.0 1.4 0-15 89.2 5.4 0-15  17.4 
WTO non-
agricultural 
products 3.0 0-15 59.1 0.0 0.0 100.0  0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 0-10 99.9 
Fish and fishery 
products 0.0 0-10 99.8 0.0  0.0 100.0  0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 0-10  99.8 
Minerals and metals 4.5 0-15 46.8 0.0 0.0 100.0  0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 100.0  
Chemicals and 
photographic 
supplies 1.6 0-10 48.9 0.0  0.0 100.0  0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 0-6  99.6 
Wood, pulp, paper 
and furniture 0.3 0-15 95.7 0.0 0.0 100.0  0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 100.0  
Textiles 5.0  0-15 38.1 0.0  0.0 100.0  0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0  100.0  
Clothing 0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 100.0  0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 100.0  
Leather, rubber, 
footwear and travel 
goods 8.5 0-15 23.9 0.0  0.0 100.0  0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0  100.0  
Non-electric 
machinery 0.5 0-10 88.9 0.0 0.0 100.0  0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 100.0  
Electric machinery 2.9  0-10 56.8 0.0  0.0 100.0  0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0  100.0  
Transport 
equipment 3.1 0-15 40.3 0.0 0.0 100.0  0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 100.0  
Non-agricultural 
products, n.e.s. 6.2 0-15 38.1 0.0  0.0 100.0  0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0  100.0  
Petroleum 3.8 0-10 51.0 0.0 0.0 100.0  0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 100.0  
Note: 2015 tariff schedule is based on HS12 nomenclature. 
 Albania offers duty-free access to all products from CEFTA members. 
 Source: WTO Secretariat calculations, based on data provided by the Albanian authorities. 
3.1.5  Other charges affecting imports  
3.1.5.1  Value-added tax (VAT) 3.32.  VAT is among the main sources of tax revenue in Albania, contributing 34.8% to total 
government revenue in 2014. In December 2013, Law No. 182/2013 amending Law No. 7928 of 
27 April 1995 "On Value Added Tax" was adopted. The new law is based on the new tax policy where, for example, the supply of medicines, as well as medical and health services, is exempted 
from VAT as of 1 April 2014. In the hydrocarbons sector, the law also removed VAT exemption on 
imports of goods and domestic suppliers by cont ractors and subcontractors in the development 
stage, and exempted VAT on machinery worth over US$500,000 that is deemed to be used to increase productivity, and fuel used for the needs of oil producing companies.
29 VAT exemption on 
research and development for hydrocarbon operat ions remains. The law also changed payment 
procedures for refundable VAT, by, inter alia,  transferring the responsible authority administering 
                                               
29 AIDA online information. Viewed at: http://aida.gov.al/pages/taxes/ [03.02.2016] WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
- 39 - 
 
  the VAT from the tax offices to the treasury offices, and extending the period for control and 
approval of the outstanding credit-refundable VAT from 30 days to 60 days, considering an 
increase in the number of VAT tax payers in recent years.  
3.33.  Persons and companies involved in any economic activity (excluding farming) must be VAT-
registered if they have an annual turnover of lek 5 million or more per calendar year; nonetheless, 
any person that engages in trade (import or expo rt) must register for VAT purposes, irrespective 
of the annual turnover. The general VAT rate is 20% for domestically produced and imported 
goods and services. The VAT is levied on the ex-facto ry price of domestic products and on the c.i.f. 
value of imports plus the sum of import duties an d other charges, including excise taxes. Exports 
of goods and services are zero rated. In addition  to those mentioned in the previous paragraph, 
exemptions to the VAT apply to: the supply of financial services (except non-life-insurance 
premiums, which are taxable at the standard rate of 20%); gold, bank notes or currencies 
supplied to the Bank of Albania; postal services; the sale of new and existing buildings; and certain operations of non-profit organizations.
30  
3.34.  Special VAT schemes apply in certain cases. For instance, payment of VAT may be 
postponed for 12 months on the importation of investment goods used in the economic activity of a taxable person and on imported machinery for re-sale. In the case of prepaid mobile phone 
cards the issuing company pays VAT on the price of the prepaid card, while the distributor only 
pays VAT on the commission charged to the mobile company. Farmers, who are not subject to VAT, may benefit from compensation for certain e ligible products sold to VAT-taxable subjects. 
This compensation is equivalent to 6% of the valu e of the transaction, based on the invoice issued 
by the buyer. The amount is subject to VAT credit for the buyer.  
3.1.5.2  Excise tax 3.35.  Excise taxes are levied on coffee; energy  drinks; alcoholic beverages; tobacco and tobacco 
products; petroleum by-products; tyres; and batteries (Table 3.4). Law No. 61/2015 of 24 May 
2012 "On excises in the Republic of Albania" has been amended by Law No. 121/2012 of 20 
December 2012, Law No. 180/2013 of 28 December 2013, Law No. 142/2014 of 23 October 2014, 
and Law No. 158/2014 of 27 November 2014. Law No. 121/2012 amended excise duties on coffee 
products. Law No. 180/2013 amended excise duties on various products including cigarettes, which were amended to lek 4,500 per 1,000 piece from 1 January 2014, lek 5,500 per 1,000 piece from 1 January 2015, and are to be amended to lek 6,000 per 1,000 piece from 1 January 2017
31; 
the law also eliminated excise duty exemptio n for imported petroleum derivatives. Law No. 
142/2014 stipulates, inter alia,  measures of fiscal policy in the review of excise level for some 
products. Law No. 158/2014 stipulated some changes including the excise tax on energy drinks. 
Excise taxes represented around 11.7% of total government revenue in 2015.  
Table 3.4 Excise taxes, 2015 
HS Code  Description  Tax rate 
 Coffee  
09011100, 
09011200 Coffee, not roasted, whether or not decaffeinated  lek 0/kg 
09012100, 
09012200 Coffee, roasted, whether or not decaffeinated  lek 60/kg 
090190  Coffee husks and skins; coffee substitutes containing coffee  lek 50/kg 
21011100 
21011298 Extracts, essences and concentrates of coffee, and preparations with a basis of 
these products (e.g. instant coffee) lek 250/kg 
 Energy drinks  
22021000 Energy drinks lek 30/litre 
 Beer, wine, alcohol and alcoholic beverages   
2203 Beer made of malt, by domestic and fore ign manufacturers in quantities up to 
200,000 hectolitres/year lek 360 /hectolitre  
2203 Beer made of malt, by domestic and foreign manufacturers in quantities more 
than 200,000 hectolitres/year lek 710 /hectolitre  
220421 
220429 Still wine and grape must; Vermouth and other wine flavoured with plants or 
aromatic substances; Other fermented beverages (i.e. cider, perry, mead);  
 
                                               
30 Printed materials of any kind, imported or domestically produced; promotional and advertising 
services from electronic and printed media; and the activities of casinos and hippodromes are also exempted 
from the VAT. Also exempted from the VAT are goods in  transit, and imports of  goods under the active 
processing regime for export purposes. The VAT  is applied on a national treatment basis. 
31 According to the authorities, this change addresses requirements in the releva nt EU directive that the 
minimum level of excise taxes on cigarettes  be at least 57% of the retail price.   WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
- 40 - 
 
  HS Code  Description  Tax rate 
220430 
22043010 
22043096 
22043098 
22051010 
22059010 
22060010 
22060051 
22060059 
22060081 
22060089 mixtures of fermented beverages and mixtures of still fermented beverages and 
non-alcoholic beverages 
- by domestic and foreign manufacturers in quantities up to 10,000 
hectolitres/year 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- by domestic and foreign manufacturers in quantities of more than 10,000 
hectolitres/year 
 
 
  
 
lek 3,000/hectolitre for 
wine of an actual 
alcoholic strength by 
volume up to 12.5 vol. 
and lek 4,000/hectolitre 
for wine of an actual 
alcoholic strength by 
volume exceeding 12.5 
vol. 
lek 10,000/hectolitre for 
wine of an actual 
alcoholic strength by 
volume up to 12.5 vol. 
and lek 
12,000/hectolitre for 
wine of an actual 
alcoholic strength by 
volume exceeding 12.5 
vol.  
220410 
22042106 22042107 
22042108 
22042109 22051010 22059010 
22060031 
22060039 Asti spumante, Champagne; wines other than those falling under 220410 in 
bottles with 'mushroom' stoppers held in place by ties or fastenings; wine, otherwise put with an acceptable excess pressure due to carbon dioxide. 
Vermouth and other wines flavoured with plants and aromatic substances of an 
actual alcoholic strength by volume of 18% vol. or less. Other fermented beverages (e.g. cider, perry, mead); mixtures of fermented beverages and mixtures of sparkling fermented beverages and non-alcoholic beverages lek 5,200/hectolitre
 
 
22042185-91 
22042193-98 
22042985-91 
22042993-98 
22051010 
22051090 
22059010 
22059090 
22060010 
22060031 
22060039 
22060051 
22060059 
22060081 
22060089 Intermediate alcoholic beverages of an actual alcoholic strength by volume 
exceeding 15% vol., but not exceeding 22% vol., in accordance with provisions 
of Article 74 of the law lek 5,200/hectolitre  
22042192-98 
22042992-98 
22051090 
22059090 22060010 22060031 22060039 
22060051 
22060059 22060081 22060089 22082012 
22082014 
22082026 22082027 22082029 
22082040 
22082062 22082064 22082086 22082087 
22082089 
22083011 22083019 22083030 22083041 
22083049 
22083061 22083069 22083071 22083079 
22083082 
22083088 Alcoholic beverages obtained by distilling grape wine or grape marc, Whiskies, 
Rum and other spirits obtained by distilling fermented sugar-cane products, Gin 
and Geneva, Vodka, Liqueurs and cordials, anisette. 
 - by domestic and foreign manufacturers in quantities up to 20,000 
hectolitres/year 
 
 
 - by domestic and foreign manufacturers in quantities over 20,000 
hectolitres/year 
 
  
 
 
 lek 65,000/hectolitre of anhydrous alcohol  
lek 84,500/hectolitre of 
anhydrous alcohol WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
- 41 - 
 
  HS Code  Description  Tax rate 
22084011 
22084031 
22084039 22084051 22084091 22084099 
22085011 
22085019 22085091 22085099 
22086011 
22086019 22086091 22086099 22087010 
22087090 
22089011 22089019 22089033 22089038 
22089041 
22089045 22089048 22089052 22089054 
22089056 
22089069 22089071 22089075 
22089077 
22089078 
22071000 
22089091 
22089099 Non-denatured ethyl alcohol of an actual alcoholic strength by volume of 80% 
vol. or more lek 45,000/hectolitre of 
anhydrous alcohol 
22072000 Denatured ethyl alcohol 0 (zero) 
22082029 Raki lek 20,000/hectolitre of 
anhydrous alcohol 
Chapters 17 to 22 for the CN All products that have an actual alcoholic strength by volume exceeding 1.2% 
vol. and regardless their classification under the CN system pursuant to Article 
64 of the law lek 45,000/hectolitre of 
anhydrous alcohol 
 Tobacco and its by-products   
24021000 Cigars and cigarillos containing tobacco  lek 2,500/kg 
240220  Cigarettes containing tobacco lek 5,500/1,000 pieces  
From 1 January 2016 – 
lek 6,000/1,000 pieces 
From 1 January 2017 – 
lek 6,500/1,000 pieces 
240290 Cigars, cigarillos and cigarettes containing tobacco substitutes  lek 2,240/kg 
2403 Other manufactured tobacco and substitutes, "homogenized"  tobacco, extracts 
and essences lek 4,400/kg 
From 1 January 2016 – 
lek 5,100/kg 
From 1 January 2017 – 
lek 5,800/kg  
 Energy products  
1507 to 1518  Vegetable and animal oils and fats and their product (if used for heating or 
engines) As referred to in Articles 
50 and 51 of the law 
27101010 
27071090 
27072010 
27072090 27073010 27073090 
27075010 
27075090 Mineral oils and their products falling within CN codes in the Chapter 2707
 lek 50/litre 
27101211 Petroleum oil undergoing a specific process  lek 50/litre 
27101241 
27191245 
27101249 Light oils (gasoline and benzene)  
Gasoline and unleaded benzene, with lead containing not more than 0.013 
gr/litre 
With an octane number less than 95 With an octane number 95-98 With an octane number 98 or more lek 37/litre 
27101251 
27101259 Leaded gasoline, with lead containing more than 0.013 gr/litre  
With an octane number less than 98 
With an octane number 98 or more lek 50/litre 
27101911-29 
27101921-25 Kerosene 
 Fuels, kerosene type lek 20/litre 
 lek 20/litre 
27101931-48 Heavy oils (gas oil) lek 37/litre 
27101951-69 Heavy oils  as fuels (fuels, solar,  fuel oil)  lek 37/kg WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
- 42 - 
 
  HS Code  Description  Tax rate 
271020 Biodiesel with petroleum oils lek 37/kg 
27101971-99 Lubricating oils and other oils lek 40/kg 
27109100-
9900  Waste oils  lek 5/kg 
27121090 Grease lek 405/kg 
27131100 
27131200 Petroleum coke lek 2/kg 
27132000 Petroleum bitumen lek 5/kg 
271390 Residues of petroleum oils and bituminous minerals (bitumen)  lek 5/kg 
2715 Bituminous mixtures based on natural asphalt, on petroleum bitumen, on 
mineral tar or mineral tar pitch (bituminous mastics). Bituminous varnish (i.e. 
asphalt-cement) lek 5/kg bitumen  
27111211 
27111219 
27111291 
27111293 
27111294 
27111297 
27111310 
27111330 
27111391 
27111397 
27111400 
27111900 Petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons  lek 0/litre 
2901 Acyclic hydrocarbons lek 37/kg 
2902 Cyclic hydrocarbons lek 37/kg 
29051100 Methanol (Methyl Alcohol) As referred to in Articles 
50 and 51 of the law 
34031910 
34039900 Lubricating preparations for machineries, equipment  and vehicles  lek 40/kg 
3811, 3817 Anti-knock preparations, anti-oxidizing preparations, gum  inhibitors, viscosity 
improvers, anti-corrosive preparations, and prepared additives, for mineral oils 
(including gasoline) or other liquids used for the same purposes as mineral oils 
 
Mixed alkylbenzenes and mixed alkylnaphthalenes As referred to in Articles 
50 and 51 of the law 
382600 Fatty acids/biodiesel containing less than 70% by weight petroleum oils unde r 
Chapter 27 lek 37/litre 
 Fireworks   
36041000 Fireworks  lek 200/kg 
36049000 Other lek 200/kg 
 Pneumatic tyres  
4011 New pneumatic tyres, of rubbe r lek 20/kg 
4012 (ex. 
40122000) Retreaded pneumatic tyres of rubber; solid or cushion tyres; tyre treads and 
tyre flaps lek 40/kg 
40122000 Used pneumatic tyres lek 100/kg 
 Primary cells and primary batteries; electric accumulators   
8506 Primary cells and primary batteries  lek 200/kg 
8507 Electric accumulators, including  separators therefore, whether or not 
rectangular (including square) lek 20/kg 
 Electric filament lamps  
85392210 
85392290 
85392992 
85392998 Reflector lamps 
Other 
Exceeding 100V 
Not exceeding 100V lek 100/item 
Source: DCM No. 61/2012, as amended (most recently by DCM No. 148/2014). 
3.36.  Exemptions to excise taxes apply on ex ports and approved customs or tax suspension 
regimes as well as gas oil and by-products used in oil research activities. Excise tax is refundable 
on: exports; approved suspension regimes; gas oil used for fishing boats; and fuel used by producers of electricity resources of 5 MW or more for each energy resource, as well as fuel used in the production of agriculture products in heated greenhouses.  
3.1.6  Import prohibitions, restrictions, and licensing 
3.1.6.1  Import prohibitions 3.37.  Albania imposes import prohibitions on products that are considered to be hazardous or to 
threaten public health. Prohibitions apply to certain imports including: dangerous waste (unless it 
may be used, processed or recycled, in which case an import licence is required)
32; chemical 
                                               
32 Law No. 156 of 10 October 2013 "On some amendments in the Law No. 10463 of 22 September 2011 
"On integrated waste management". WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  products under the Chemical Weapons Convention (without a licence)33; and narcotics and 
psychotropic substances (as listed in Schedule 1 of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs 1961 and Convention on Psychotropic Substances 1971). 
3.38.  The Law on Veterinary Service (Law No. 10465 of 29 September 2011) prohibits the 
importation of: live animals, veterinary medicinal products, embryonic animal products, products 
of animal origin (not for human consumption), which can transmit an infectious disease or endanger the health of people or animals; an d live organisms, such as bacteria, viruses and 
moulds, which are pathogenic to animals and humans.
34 The law transferred the responsibilities for 
animal health and welfare to the Veterinary Servic e. The Law on Plant Protection Service prohibits 
the importation of plants, plant products, and other objects that are carrying pests.35  
3.1.6.2  Import licensing  
3.39.  Albania requires importers of certain products to be licensed, for reasons including SPS 
objectives, security, protection of the enviro nment, and compliance with obligations under 
international conventions (Table 3.5). In addition, in some cases, the respective products to be 
imported are subject to further restrictions. Most import licences are granted by the National 
Licences Centre under the Ministry of Econom ic Development, Trade and Entrepreneurship.  
3.40.  Albania's import licensing requirements an d the procedures to implement them are set out 
in a variety of laws, regulations, ministerial orders , decisions of the Council of Ministers, rules, and 
ministerial guidelines. Documentary and other information must be presented in order for the licence to be granted. If these requirements are met, the licence is granted automatically. 
Licensing is not automatic for narcotic and psychotropic drugs and certain flora and fauna, as well 
as for medicinal products, military goods, and fish and fish products.  
3.41.  Albania provided WTO Members with responses to the questionnaire on import licensing 
procedures in 2011, 2012, and 2014.
36  
Table 3.5 Products subject to import licensing requirements, December 2015 
Product Legal Provisions/Procedures  Purpose 
Live animals; leather; feed; 
biological material for animal insemination; veterinary drugs 
and vaccines (HS Chapters 01, 
02, 03 and 04, HS headings 1601 and 1602) Law No. 10081 of 23 February 2009 (On licences, 
authorization and permission in the Republic of Albania); Law No. 9863 of 28 January 2008 (On Food); Decision 
No. 538 of 26 May 2009 "On licences and authorization 
that are checked over through NCL and some other common sub-legal regulations"; Decision No. 1295 of 29 December 2009 "On some amendments in Decision No. 538/2009"; Law No. 9426 of 6 October 2005 "Animal 
Breeding". Imports are only permitted from countries 
that meet the requirements of the OIE and other international organizations of which Albania is a participant. However, to ensure cooperation, Albania has bilateral veterinary agreements with Former Yugoslav 
Republic of Macedonia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, 
Brazil, Kosovo, Serbia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Importers of these products must be licensed. To obtain a licence for food of animal origin, the importer's 
establishment must be inspected by one of the Regional 
Directories of the National Food Authority, and final approval must be granted by the General Director of the National Food Authority. Applications for import licences are processed within ten days and a registration fee is 
levied. Licences are issued automatically if the requisite 
conditions are met. Import licences for veterinary medicines and vaccines are valid for five years and for one year for other products. Licensees must reapply to have their licences extended. A list of licensed importers Food safety. Importing firms 
must fulfil sanitary conditions in accordance with Albanian 
law 
                                               
33 According to Law No. 9092 of 3 July 2003, the maximu m amount allowed to be imported into Albania 
is one tonne; they are limited to products for scientific, medicinal or pharmaceutical purposes. 
34 Law No. 10465 of 29 September 2011, "On Veterinary Service in the Republic of Albania", Articles 33 
and 38.   
35 Law No. 9362 of 24 March 2005, "On Plant Protection Service".   
36 Albania's responses to the questionnaire on import licensing procedures since 2010 are contained in 
WTO documents G/LIC/N/3/ALB/5, G/LIC/N/3/ALB/6, and G/LIC/N/3/ALB/7, 24 January 2011, 5 November 
2012, and 14 April 2014, respectively.   WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  Product Legal Provisions/Procedures  Purpose 
is sent to the Border Inspection Point.   
Plant protection products (ce rtain 
products of HS heading 3808 
including insecticides, fungicides, 
herbicides, disinfectants)  
 Law No. 10081 of 23 February 2009 'On Licensing, 
Authorizations and Permissions in the Republic of 
Albania'; Law No. 9362 of 24 March 2005 'On Plant 
Protection Services', as amended in 2011 to reorganize 
relevant divisions concerning plant protection services 
and reallocate responsibilities related, inter alia,  to 
inspection. DCM No. 1555 of 12 November 2008 
(approval of the regulation on plant protection products). 
Only registered plant protection products (PPPs) may be 
imported into Albania. To be registered, an application 
with the required documents and samples must be 
submitted to the Registration Office of PPPs. The 
applicant must also declare the kind of packaging to be 
used for that PPP. Within 30 days the request is either 
accepted or, if not, the applicant is informed in writing of 
the reasons for refusal. Additional data may be 
requested. Licences are issued automatically if the 
required criteria are met.  Control of poisonous products,  
the careless use of which 
could affect plants, animals, 
human beings, and the 
environment  
Wild species of flora and fauna 
listed in the Appendices of the 
CITES Convention Law No. 9021 of 6 March 2003 (accession of Albania to 
CITES); Law No. 9867 of 31 January 2010 "On the rules 
and procedures on international trade of endangered species of wild fauna and flora". The licensing system applies to trade between parties to the CITES Convention. Quota system for licences determined by 
the CITES Convention Secretariat annually. Advice of the 
appropriate national scientific authority is required. Processing time is generally up to 15 working days from receipt of the application and licences are valid for a 
year.  To restrict the number of 
species, wild animals, and 
plants to improve their conservation status and comply with Albania's CITES commitments 
Certain fish and fish products 
(eggs, larvae and fingerlings of 
any water species (not for 
aquaculture purposes)) (HS 
Chapter 3) Law No. 64/2012 of 31 May 2012 "On Fishery", as 
amended; Regulation No. 1 of 7 March 2014 (licensing of 
fisheries and aquaculture). Authorization required from 
the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and 
Water Administration. Authorization is, inter alia,  
contingent upon a health certificate having been 
obtained from the Veterinary Directorate, and that the 
Ministry of Environment issue an environmental 
permission and provide that the species are not 
dangerous for biodiversity. Applications are processed 
within 30 days. An environmental licence needs to be 
issued by the Ministry of Environment. Products must 
undergo a quarantine period, with the costs borne by the 
importer.  Environmental measure to 
protect Albanian waters and 
regulate the introduction of 
species with no relation to 
aquaculture 
Imports of waste Law No. 156 of 10 October 2013 "On some amendments 
in the Law No. 10463/2011;  Law No. 10431 of 9 June 2011 ("On protection of environment"); Law No. 10463 of 22 September 2011 
("On integrated waste management"); DCM No. 835 of 
28 December 2005 ("On approval of the list of danger waste, other waste and other remains, that are not allowed to be imported, with the aim to preserve, to deposit and to exterminate"). Only non-dangerous waste 
that may be reused, processed or recycled may be 
imported into Albania. Applications must be made to the Ministry of Environment and approval obtained from the Council of Ministers. Approval can take up to a month. A licensing fee is charged.   SPS measures and 
environmental protection 
Medicinal products (narcotic 
drugs and psychotropic 
substances; pharmaceutical 
products (included in HS chapter 
30)); dental materials (included 
in HS chapters 33, 34, 37); 
medical and dental equipment 
and devices (included in HS 
chapters 37, 70, 90 and 94); 
disinfectant, disinsectants and 
deratization substances (DDD) 
(included in HS chapters 28 and 
29) Pharmaceutical products  
Law No. 105/2014 of 31 July 2014 "On drugs and 
pharmaceutical service", as amended by Law No. 
109/2015 of 15 October 2015 "On a change to the Law 
No. 105/2014". The change is related to pharmaceuticals 
manufactured within the Balkan area. According to this 
change, such category of products are accepted by 
Albania's National Agency of Drugs and Medical Devices 
to be equipped with marketing authorization; DCM No. 
142 of 18 February 2015 "On designation of the rules for 
issuing of the Minister of Health's authorization with 
regard to unauthorised drugs"; DCM No. 325, of 14 June 
1993 (regime for exportation-im portation and production 
of medicines);  
Guideline No. 180 of August 1993 (cooperation on the 
import-export regime), amended by Order of Minister of 
Health No. 81 of 6 March 2008. 
 
 
Narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances: Control products and 
inspecting structures that will 
enter Albania WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  Product Legal Provisions/Procedures  Purpose 
Law No. 7975 of 26  July 1995 (narcotic drugs and 
psychotropic substances), as amended by Law No. 9271 
of 9 November 2004, Law No.9559 of 8 June 2006, Law 
No. 10137 of 11 May 2009, and Law No. 46/2013 of 14 
February 2013.  
 
Dental health equipment (if source of ionizing 
radiation): 
Law No. 9928 of 9 June 2008 (dental health service), as 
amended; DCM No. 158 of 12 February 2008 (on import-
export of ionizing radiation) (if dental and medical 
equipment are a source of ionizing radiation, a licence by 
the Commission on Radiation Protection is required); 
Law No. 8025 of 9 November 1995 "On protection from 
ionized radiation", as amended by Law No. 9973 of 28 
July 2008, Law No. 26/2013, Law No. 10137 of 11 May 
2009, and Law No. 26/2013 of 14 February 2013.  
 
Medical devices: 
Law No. 89/2014 "On medical devices" and related 
DCMs; 
 
Disinfection, disinsection and deratization 
substances (DDD): 
Law No. 95/2015 "On Services and Biocidal Product in 
Public Health; - Order of Minister of Health No. 202 of 23 
May 2014 "On import authorization of biocidal products 
and approval of list of biocidal products for disinfection, 
disinsection and deratization in public health"; DCM No. 
538 of 26 May 2009 (licences and permits handled by or 
through the National Licensing Centre and on some 
sublegal common regulations) and related Minister of 
Health Order No. 102 of 22 February 2010 (on 
authorization for the import-export wholesale, and retail 
of DDD substances; Law No. 10138 of 11 May 2009 "On 
Public Health", as amended by the Law No. 52/2013 of 
14 February 2013 "On some changes to the Law No. 
10138". The change is related to inspection issues, for 
instance, designation of the responsible authority for 
inspection.  
 
Only natural and juridical persons registered nearby the 
National Licensing Centre may import these products. 
With respect to medicines, applications for import 
licences (authorization) by registered entities are made 
to: the National Agency for Drugs and Medical Devices 
for registered (authorized) medicines, and to the 
Pharmaceutical Department within the Ministry of Health 
for unregistered (unauthorized) and donated medicines. 
Validity periods for licences to import vary from one 
month to one year depending on the product imported, 
and importers may apply to extend the validity. 
Licensing fees vary. For narcotic and psychotropic drugs, 
there is an annual quantity approved for the country, 
and conditions applied to licensing are more stringent. 
Military goods (arms and 
munitions, fireworks, explosives for civil use and other dual-use 
goods) Law No. 9707 of 5 April 2007 (state control of the 
activity of import and export of dual-use goods). Permission to import and export military goods is issued 
by the Export State Control Authority at the Ministry of 
Defence, and radioactive materials by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Applications for licences are processed within 30 days and are valid for one to three years. 
Licensing fees are charged.  DCM No. 106 of 9 February 
2011 "On approving the updated list of military goods and dual use goods and technologies". Law No. 9126 of 21 July 2003 "On civilian use of Explosives in the Republic of Albania". DCM No. 469 of 29 June 2011 "On 
Procedures to grant import-export and production 
licences for explosives for civilian use". DCM No. 853 of 17 December 2004 "On Procedures to grant import-export and production licences for fireworks and pyrotechnical articles". Safety: control of activity of 
traders due to dangerousness of goods 
Source: WTO documents G/LIC/N/3/ALB/5, G/LIC/N/ 3/ALB/6, and G/LIC/N/3/ALB/7; and information 
provided by the Albanian authorities. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  3.1.7  Anti-dumping, counterva iling, and safeguard measures 
3.1.7.1  Anti-dumping and countervailing measures 3.42.  Albania's rules on anti-dumping and countervailing measures are contained in Law No. 9796 
of 23 July 2007 "On Antidumping and Countervailing Measures", unchanged since its previous 
Review. The authorities state that the law is harmonized with the relevant EU regulations.
37 The 
law was notified to the WTO38, and some Members sought, and received, clarifications from 
Albania regarding certain of its provisions.39 The law also contains provisions on subsidies. Since 
its accession to the WTO, Albania has not undertaken any anti-dumping or subsidy investigations, 
nor has it maintained any anti-dumping or countervailing measures. The authorities state that this is because they have not had any request from the business community to investigate or take any measures.  
3.43.  Investigations into whether exports have been dumped or subsidized may be initiated 
upon written application by Albanian industry to the Ministry of Economic Development, Tourism, Trade and Entrepreneurship (MEDTTE).  The Market Surveillance Department within the MEDTTE 
functions as a technical secretariat during anti-dumping investigations.  The accuracy and 
sufficiency of the applications is examined by the MEDTTE before it is submitted to an inter-collegial Commission (Commission for Evaluation of Measures on Imports), also headed by the 
MEDTTE.
40 The Commission must decide whether to initiate an investigation within 45 days of 
submission of the application (or up to 60 days when additional information is required; it may also self-initiate an investigation, provided suffi cient data are available on the dumping, subsidy, 
injury, and causal link. The investigation itself is undertaken by the MEDTTE and must be 
concluded within one year or in specific cases within 18 months. The decision to impose final 
measures lies with the Commission. The Commission's decisions in this regard may be appealed. Anti-dumping and countervailing measures may be in force for as long as necessary to neutralize 
the dumping or subsidy. Unless measures are maintained following a review, however, they are 
repealed no later than five years after the date of imposition. A review may be undertaken at any 
time after imposition of the measure, on the Commission's own initiative or upon a request filed 
by, or on behalf of, Albanian industry. Measures are subject to review on the initiative of the 
Commission, upon written request or on behalf of domestic producers.  
3.44.  In each of Albania's free-trade agreements, it is specified that parties may have recourse to 
anti-dumping and countervailing measures in acco rdance with the respective WTO provisions.  
3.1.7.2  Safeguards 
3.45.  Albania's main safeguards legislation includes Law No. 9790 of 19 July 2007 "On Safeguard 
Measures on Imports". Albania has not initiated any safeguard investigations, nor taken any 
safeguard measures. 
3.46.  Applications for safeguard investigations follow similar procedures, as do those for anti-
dumping and subsidy investigations. An inter-collegial commission headed by the MEDTTE is 
responsible, inter alia , for deciding whether to initiate investigations and on the imposition of 
provisional or final measures. The MEDTTE is responsible for undertaking the investigation. Albanian producers may request investigations in writing and the Commission must decide on whether to initiate an investigation within 30 days (or 45 days in certain circumstances) from the 
date of this submission. The application is considered to have been made by, or on behalf of, the 
local industry, only if it is supported by Albanian manufacturers whose joint product accounts for more than 50% of total production of the simi lar product, regardless of whether they express 
themselves in favour of or against the application. Albanian manufacturers in favour of the 
                                               
37 The authorities indicate that relevant EU regulations include: Directives No. 2026/97 (OJ L 288, 
21 October 1997); No. 384/96 (OJ L 56, 6 March 1996); and No. 3285/94 (OJ L 349, 31 December 1994). 
38 WTO documents G/ADP/N/1/ALB/2/Rev.1 and G/SCM/N/1/ALB/2/Rev.1, 8 May 2008. 
39 These questions from Members and responses by Albania are contained in WTO documents 
G/ADP/Q1/ALB/4 and G/SCM/Q1/ALB/4, 8 April 2008 to G/ADP/Q1/ALB/11 and G/SCM/Q1/ALB/11, 12 January 
2009. 
40 The Commission is chaired by the Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Entrepreneurship 
and is composed of seven experts from the institutions covered by the Law. The or ganization and functioning 
of the Commission is regulated by Council of Ministers Decision No. 1616 of 10 December 2008.    WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  application must account for not less than 25% of the total production. Applications may also be 
initiated by the MEDTTE, with the Commission's a pproval. The existence or threat of material 
injury must be proven before an investigation can proceed. 
3.47.  Temporary measures may be applied under critical circumstances, when failure to apply 
them would cause injury that would be very difficu lt to rectify. They can also be applied when, 
based on clear preliminary data, it is established that the increasing imports have caused, or threaten to cause, a serious direct injury to the local manufacturers of similar or competitive 
products. The temporary measures must take the form of a tariff increase, and may not be applied 
for more than 200 days. Final measures may take the form of an additional customs duty or a quantitative restriction. Before imposing quantitative restrictions, the Commission must take into account their effect on trade flows, and possible negative impact on the economy.  
3.48.  Final safeguard measures should be implemented, as a general rule, for a maximum of four 
years, including the duration of any provisional measure. Nonetheless, the measure may be extended for up to four more years if it conti nues to be necessary to prevent or regulate the 
injury. If measures are imposed for more than one year, they must be liberalized progressively. 
Interested parties may request judicial review of the Commission's final decisions.  
3.49.  Albania's agreements with the EU (the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA)) and 
its CEFTA partners also contain a general safeguard clause.
41 Such a clause is also contained in 
Albania's agreements with Turkey or EFTA. Parties may have recourse to safeguard measures not only for reasons of injury (actual or the threat of) to like or directly competitive products (as also specified in the WTO Agreement on Safeguards), but also where imports cause or threaten to 
cause 'serious disturbances in any sector of th e economy or difficulties which could bring about 
serious deterioration in the economic situation of a region of the importing country.' Both of the agreements provide for a consultation or examin ation period between the parties in advance of 
measures being taken, except in emergency situations. Under the SAA, safeguard measures 
should normally consist of either a suspension of an applicable duty reduction or an increase of the duty rate up to the MFN rate. Under the CEFTA Ag reement, any duty increases should not exceed 
the lesser of the MFN rate in effect at the time th e action was taken, or of the MFN rate on the day 
preceding the date of entry into force of the Agreement. Measures should generally not exceed one year under both agreements, although some flexibility is provided for in exceptional circumstances. 
3.1.8  Standards and other technical requirements 
3.1.8.1  Technical regulations 3.1.8.1.1  Transparency 
3.50.  The General Directorate of Standardization (DPS) is responsible for the adoption of 
standards in Albania
42, and is Albania's national authority for notifications and its National Enquiry 
Point.43 The General Accreditation Directorate (DPA) under the Ministry of Economic Development, 
Tourism, Trade and Entrepreneurship is the national accreditation body.44  
3.51.  Albania's laws, decisions, and orders gove rning implementation and administration of the 
TBT Agreement include Law No. 9870 of 4 Februa ry 2008 "On standardization", as amended by 
Law No. 53/2015 "On some amendments to the Law No. 9870/2008" and Law No. 10384 of 
24 February 2011 "On some amendments to the Law 9,870/2008"; DCM No. 190 of 13 March 
2012 "On Code of development, adoption, approv al and implementation of standards"; Law No. 
116 of 11 September 2014 "On the accreditation of conformity assessment bodies in the Republic 
of Albania"; DCM No. 667 of 29 July 2015 "On organization and functioning of the General 
Directorate of Accreditors"; Law No. 10489 of 15 December 2011 "On marketing and market surveillance of non-food products"; and Law No. 10480 of 17 November 2011 "On general safety 
of non-food products".  
                                               
41 See EU-Albania SAA (Article 38), and the CEFTA Agreement (Articles 23 and 24). 
42 DPS online information.  Viewed at:  http://www.dpa.gov.al/    [28.10.2015]   
43 WTO document G/TBT/ENQ/35/Rev.2, 13 May 2009.  Th e responsibilities of the DPS are set out in 
DCM No. 789 of 22 July 2009. 
44 DPA online information. Viewed at: http://www.dpa.gov.al/  [28.10.2015] WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  3.52.  Law No. 53/2015 partially approximates EU Regulation No. 1025/2012.45 By the adoption of 
Law No. 10384/2011, the DPS was made responsible for organizing all standardization activities and for adopting and publishing as Albanian documents the telecommunication standards as published by European and international organizations.  
3.53.  Since 2010, no specific trade concerns agai nst technical regulations maintained by Albania 
have been raised by in the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade. Albania has not notified to the WTO any mutual recognition agreements with third countries on issues related to technical 
regulations, standards, or conformity assessm ent procedures. Since October 2015, the General 
Directorate of Accreditation has been a signatory of the European Accreditation Multilateral Agreement (EA-MLA). The DPS has cooperation agreements with the standardization bodies in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Former  Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, 
Russia and Turkey. In October 2015, the DPS signed  an MoU with the Czech Office for Standards, 
Metrology and Testing (UNMZ) with a view to enhancing cooperation in the field of standardization.  
Table 3.6 Laws, decisions, and orders govern ing implementation of the TBT Agreement, 
December 2015 
Law number, date and title  
Standardization 
Law No. 53 of 21 May 2015 "On amendments to Law No. 9870". The law has made relevant changes to Article 8 of 
Law No.9870/2008 relating to the employment procedures in the DPS.  
Law No. 10384 of 24 February 2011 "On amendments to La w No. 9870". Under the law, the DPS is responsible for 
organizing all standardization activities and for adopting and publishing Albanian standards, including those 
concerning telecommunication standards (as published by the European (ETSI) and international (ITU-T) 
organizations). 
Law No. 9870 of 4 February 2008 "On standardization" 
DCM No. 754 of 16 September 2015 
DCM No. 138 of 18 February 2015 
DCM No. 190 of 13 March 2012 
DCM No. 433 of 5 May 2010 
DCM No. 789 of 22 July 2009 
Accreditation  
Law No. 116 of 11 September 2014 "On the accreditation of conformity assessment bodies in the Republic of 
Albania" 
DCM No. 667 of 29 July 2015 "On organization and func tioning of the General Dire ctorate of Accreditation" 
Conformity Assessment  
Law No. 10489 of 15 December 2011 "On marketing an d market surveillance of non-food products" 
Specific fields  
Law No. 9780 of 17 July 2007 "On construction products" 
Law No. 9323 of 25 November 2004 "On medicinal products and pharmaceutical services" 
Law No. 8531 of 23 September 1999 "On the fertilisers control service" 
Law No. 7941 of 31 May 1995 "On food" 
DCM No. 604 of 17 November 2000 "On the labelling of food products" 
DCM No. 609 of 17 November 2000 "On the industrialization and commercialization of natural mineral waters" 
DCM No. 234 of 11 May 2000 "On the rules and criteria of sampling and analysis of fertilisers" 
DCM No. 888 of 19 December 2007 "On essential requirements and conformity assessment of toys" 
DCM No. 889 of 19 December 2007 "On essential requirements and conformity assessment of simple pressure 
vessels" 
DCM No. 73 of 28 January 2008 "On essential requiremen ts and conformity assessment of pressure equipment" 
DCM No. 369 of 27 March 2008 "On essential requirements and conformity assessment of low voltage devices 
Source: Information provided by the Albanian authorities. 
3.1.8.1.2  Implementation 
3.54.  Between 1 January 2010 and 26 October 2015, Albania made 39 notifications under Article 
10.6 of the TBT Agreement.46 All of these notifications provide for a comment period of 60 days 
following circulation to WTO Members. They are la rgely based on, or transpose, EC Directives and 
international agreements. Albania's technical regulati ons currently in place are shown in Table 3.7.  
3.55.  Under the SAA (Article 75), Albania is committed to gradually conform with EU technical 
regulations and European standardization, metr ology accreditation, and conformity assessment 
                                               
45 The authorities state that Article 2 of the law has approximated only point 2 of Article 26 of the EU 
Regulation. 
46 WTO documents G/TBT/N/ALB/39, 21 April 2010 to G/TBT/N/ALB/77, 30 October 2015. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  procedures. The SAA sets out that, as a first step, Albania is, inter alia,  obliged to: promote the 
use of EU technical regulations, European stan dards and conformity assessment procedures, and, 
where appropriate, conclude European Conformity  Assessment Protocols once Albania's legislative 
framework is aligned with that of the EU.  
3.56.  The authorities indicate that, in accordance with their commitments in the SAA, all  Albanian 
technical regulations are the result of the adoption  of EU technical regulations, in other words no 
technical regulations are devised in Albania. The dr afting of the Albanian version of the adopted EU 
regulations is the responsibility of the incumbent Mini stry in Albania. This responsibility mainly falls 
on the MEDTTE's Market Surveillance Department, wh ich is in practice responsible for drafting the 
majority of technical regulations. Once drafted, the technical regulations are sent to the General 
Directorate of Standardization for notification to the WTO, line ministries, and business 
organizations for comments and suggestions. Once this consultation process is finished, the draft 
regulations are sent to the Council of the Ministers for final approval. Usually, a technical regulation is implemented one year after its publication on the Official Gazette .  
Table 3.7 Technical regulation s in place, December 2015 
Regulation Number, Date and Title 
DCM No. 262 of 3 April 2013 "On approval of technical regulation on toy safety" (Directive 2009/48/EC) 
DCM No. 1065 of 23 December 2015 "On approval of technical regulation on simple pressure vessels and reference 
list of relevant harmonized standards" (Directive 2009/105/EC)  
DCM No. 1062 of 23 December 2015 "On approval of technical regulation on pressure equipment and reference list 
of relevant harmonized standards" (Directive 2014/68/EC) 
DCM No. 1061 of 23 December 2015 "On approval of technical regulation on electrical equipment designed for use 
within certain voltage limits and reference list of relevant harmonized standards" (Directive 2006/95/EC) 
DCM No. 1054 and No. 1067 of 23 December 2015 "On the approval of technical regulation for electromagnetic compatibility and reference list of relevant harmonized standards" (Directive 2004/108 EC) 
DCM No. 1060 of 23 December 2015 "On approval of technical regulation on machinery and reference list of 
relevant harmonized standards" (Directive 2009/127/EC) 
DCM No. 1063 of 23 December 2015 "On the approval of technical regulation on the noise emission in the environment by equipment for use outdoors" (Directive 2000/14/EC) 
DCM No. 77 of 30 January 2013 "On approval of technica l regulation on essential requirements and conformity 
assessment of non-automatic weighting instruments" (Directive 2009/23/EC) 
DCM No. 1066 of 23 December 2015 "On approval of technical regulation on equipment and protective systems 
intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres, and reference list of relevant harmonized standards" 
(Directive 94/9/EC) 
DCM No. 1057 of 23 December 2015 "On approval of technical regulation on lifts and reference list of relevant 
harmonized standards" (Directive 95/16/EC) 
Law No. 138 of 8 February 2013 "On the energy consumption information of energy related product" (Directive 
2009/28/EC) 
DCM No. 1064 of 23 December 2015 "On approval of technical regulation for new hot-water boilers fired with liquid 
or gaseous fuels" (Directive 92/42/EEC) 
DCM No. 1053 of 23 December 2015 "On approval of technical regulation on personal protective equipment and 
reference list of relevant harmonized standards" (Directive 89/686/EC) 
DCM No. 1055 of 23 December 2015 "On measurement instrument and reference list of relevant harmonized standards" (Directive 2004/22/EC) 
DCM No. 1067 of 23 December 2015 "On approval of technical regulation for appliances burning gaseous fuel and reference list of relevant harmonized standards" (Directive 2009/142/EC) 
Source: Information provided by the Albanian authorities. 
3.57.  Technical regulations from non-EU trading partners are accepted as equivalent after 
evaluation of a declaration of conformity and a technical dossier; standards applied by the foreign 
manufacturer must fulfil Albanian (and EU) essential requirements in accordance with Article 15 of 
Law No. 9779 of 16 September 2007. According to  Article 26 of Law No.10489 of 15 December 
2011, certificates, tests, and inspection reports issued by conformity-assessment bodies notified 
by EU member States, and the list of these publis hed in the OJCE, are recognized in Albania.  
3.58.  Certificates, tests, and inspection repo rts issued by conformity assessment bodies in 
countries outside the EU may be recognized and accepted in Albania if the issuing bodies are 
accredited by an accreditation body signatory to the European Co-operation for Accreditation (EA), 
the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) or the International Accreditation 
Forum (IAF) Multilateral Agreements, provided th at the respective conformity assessment tasks 
are included in the scope of the multilateral agreements to which the accreditation body is a 
signatory.  WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  3.59.  The certificates, tests, and inspection repo rts issued by conformity assessment bodies that 
are not covered by the EA, ILAC or IAF Multilateral Agreements may be recognized in Albania based on the equivalence of accreditation procedures. This equivalence is established by the National Accreditation Body in Albania.  
3.60.  The Albanian Accreditation Directorate is a full member of the EA, which allows the 
Directorate to take part in meetings, give suggestions and comments in documents proposed by the EA and other organizations and accreditation bodies, and to vote. The Albanian Directorate of 
Accreditation is an associated member of ILAC an d an accreditation body member of the IAF, and 
has an MoU with its homologous institutions in Greece, Romania, Kosovo, Montenegro, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Poland, Sweden, and Turkey. 
3.61.  Testing and/or inspection must be carried out according to the relevant EU harmonized 
standards (adapted into Albanian ones). Tests for the pre-marketing of regulated products, in 
cases where technical regulations transpose a New Approach Directive, must be conducted by designated laboratories. Accreditation is a pre-condition for obtaining the status of designated 
laboratory. Most market surveillance activities for industrial products are the responsibility of the 
MEDTTE, and are usually based on risk assessment, random checks, and sampling carried out by accredited laboratories. Market surveillance for construction products and for medical devices is 
under the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, and the Ministry of Health, respectively. Market 
surveillance activities are based on the EU's Ge neral Product Safety Directive (GPSD) provisions. 
Law No. 9779 of 16 July 2007 entitles the competent Ministry to order the removal of deficiencies 
within a prescribed time limit. By the end of November 2015, the General Directorate of 
Accreditation has accredited 25 testing laboratories, 1 medical laboratory, 2 management system 
certification bodies, 3 personnel certification bodies, and 9 inspection bodies.  
3.1.8.2  Standards 
3.62.  The principal law governing the adoption of standards on engineering, transport, food, 
agriculture, units, and measurements, is Law No . 9870 of 4 February 2008 "On standardization". 
In 2011, Albania adopted Law No. 10384 of 24 February 2011 "For some amendments to the Law 
No. 9870". This amendment enabled the DPS to be responsible for organizing all standardization 
activities and adopting and publishing as Albanian documents the telecommunication standards as published by European and international organizati ons. On 13 March 2012, the Council of Ministers 
approved the Decision No. 190 "On Code of development, adoption, approval and the 
implementation of standards".  
3.63.  In December 2012, the Managing Board was established. It is one of the managing bodies 
of the DPS, and is composed of the representatives of standardization stakeholders. 
3.64.  The DPS represents Albania in various European and international standard-setting 
organizations. Since 2013, it has been a full member of the European Institution for Telecommunication Standards (ETSI). It is an Associate Member of the International 
Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), with limited voting rights, and a Correspondent Member of the 
International Organization for Standardization (ISO). It is also an Affiliate Member (without voting rights) of both the European Committee for St andardization (CEN) and the European Committee 
for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC).  
3.65.  Between 2010 and 2015, a total of 13,609 standards were adopted, as well as 3,406  
amendments and standardization documents: 11,951 were European standards (2,392 from CENELEC, 7,852 from CEN, 1,707 from ETSI). Some 26,687 standards are currently in place 
(December 2015), of which 74% are European standards, 12% ISO and IEC standards, 11% are 
national standards, and 3% are standards adopted from other sources. In line with Albania's commitment under the SAA to gradually take on board EU standards, Albania has adopted as its 
own standards approximately 97% of the CEN and CENELEC standards.  WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  3.1.9  Sanitary and phytosanitary requirements 
3.1.9.1  Transparency 3.66.  The main institutions responsible for developing laws and regulations relating to animal, 
human, and plant health are the Ministry of Health ; the Ministry of Environment; and the Ministry 
of Agriculture, Rural Development and Water Administration.  The National Food Authority was 
established and became operational on 1 September 2010. It is responsible for the control and enforcement of the legislation concerning food sa fety and consumer protection. SPS measures are 
also implemented at the sub-central level by the appropriate local authorities.  
3.67.  The main SPS-related laws in Albania are: Law No. 9863 of 28 January 2008 "On Food", as 
amended; Law No. 10465 of 29 September 2011 "On Veterinary Service in the Republic of Albania", as amended; Law No. 9308 of 4 November  2004 'Veterinary Service', as amended, and 
Law No. 9362 of 24 March 2005 'Plant Protection Serv ice', as amended. Detailed requirements are 
set out in specific decisions of the Council of Ministers and Ministerial Ordinances related to particular areas.  
3.68.  The Directorate of Food Safety in the Mini stry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Water 
Administration (MARDWA) is Albania's national notification authority and its enquiry point under the SPS Agreement.  
3.69.  Albania is member of the Codex Alimenta rius Commission, the European and Mediterranean 
Plant Protection Organization (EPPO), and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), as well 
as a contracting party to the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC).   
3.70.  In 2010, Chile reported to the SPS committ ee that Albania restricted imports of poultry 
products from Chile allegedly because of avian influenza.
47 Chile stated that no avian influenza had 
been found in the country since 2002, and if Albania's concern was with regard to the A1/ H1N1 virus, Chile noted that there was no scientific evidence that this virus was spread by poultry 
products. Chile therefore requested that Alba nia remove these emergency measures. Albania 
notified to the SPS committee that the measure had been withdrawn, effective 12 June 2010.
48 
3.1.9.2  Implementation 
3.71.  SPS measures may take the form of laws, regulations, or ministerial orders. SPS measures 
are drafted by the relevant Central Competent Auth ority (CCA), under the various directorates of 
the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development, and Water Administration (MARDWA) and the Ministry of Health. The CCA conducts risk asse ssment and develops the measures. Implementation 
may be immediate, or medium or long term. The cost of developing the measure and conducting 
risk assessment is covered by the state budget.  
3.72.  The National Food Authority (NFA), established in 2010, is a public body, reporting to the 
Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Water Administration, and responsible for the 
control and enforcement of the legislation concer ning food safety and consumer protection. The 
NFA is one of the competent authorities responsible for food safety in Albania and operates at the 
central level, through the NFA General Directorate, and at the regional level through 12 NFA 
Regional Directorates.
49 The NFA, through its food inspectors, is responsible for the enforcement 
activity in the field.50 At the regional level, the NFA has established a territorial control 
organization for food safety in the 12 administrative regions. The NFA is also responsible for safety 
and quality control of imported food products, manufactured and marketed in the country and the 
raw materials used in the food industry.  
3.73.  In accordance with Law No. 9362, the Structure Responsible for Plant Protection cooperates 
and coordinates work with the General Directorate of Standardization to adapt international and 
                                               
47 WTO document G/SPS/R/61, 16 February 2011. 
48 WTO document G/SPS/N/ALB/124/Add.1, 24 November 2010. 
49 13 Border Inspection Points under NFA Regional Di rectorates are in charge of controlling plant and 
plant products, livestock, animal by-p roducts and food of animal and no n-animal origin at the borders. 
50 The food inspectors are in charge of controllin g food products of animal and non-animal origin. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  European standards to the field.51 This is also the case for animals and animal products, and food 
products. The procedures used are EU standards transposed as Albanian procedures. The Plant Protection Law requires copies of proposed SPS measures to be provided to WTO Members within a reasonable period, and that a process be established to take comments into account without 
discrimination.  
3.74.  Albania filed 61 SPS notifications to the WTO between 1 January 2010 and 31 October 
2015.
52 Only five of these notifications allowed for a 60-day comment period by Members before 
their entry into force.53  
3.75.  The NFA is, inter alia,  responsible for customs control of imported food products. It checks 
that food imports are labelled in the Albanian la nguage, as required by the Council of Ministers 
Decree No. 554, and takes samples for analysis. All imports of food of animal origin that require 
special controls are physically inspected at the border by the NFA. Albania recognizes risk 
assessments for third countries carried out by EU members.54 Albania follows OIE and EPPO 
procedures for recognizing pest- or disease-free areas.  
3.76.  All imports of live animals, products of animal origin (excluding food), unprocessed 
materials, biologic materials, bio-products, veteri nary drugs, and food for animal use are inspected 
at authorized border inspection posts (those with facilities for veterinary control). Imports must be 
accompanied by an international veterinary certif icate. Veterinary inspectors form part of the 
customs team, and have the authority to inspect the sanitary-veterinary conditions of import shipments as well as to take samples for laboratory analysis. If the veterinary inspector suspects a contagious disease, contamination, organic deterioration, or notices that documentation is 
incomplete, he/she may order the consignment to be locked. The Chief Veterinary Office of the 
Region checks the consignment and may release the goods or otherwise revoke the entry of the consignment, require laboratory analysis, confisca te the consignment or take other preventative 
measures. Imports (as well as exports) are subject to a veterinarian fee. All imported animals are 
subject to quarantine for a minimum of 21 days, except for animals that are imported from disease-free countries and are destined for slaughter within 72 hours. Quarantine costs are borne 
by the importer. Importers of live animals, leather, feed, biologic material on animal insemination, 
and veterinary drugs and vaccines must be licensed. Imports are permitted from countries that meet international standards; however, to ensure  cooperation, Albania has bilateral veterinary 
agreements with Former Yugoslav Republic of  Macedonia (1998), Croatia (1998), Romania (1999), 
Bulgaria (2000), Kosovo (2012), Brazil (2006), Serbia (2012), and Bosnia and Herzegovina 
(2013). Law No. 10465 of 29 November 2011, as amended (Article 82, paragraph 2), prohibits the use of hormones in food and products of animal origin and feedstuffs; for this reason, imports of 
food of animal origin that are labelled as containing hormones are not permitted. 
3.77.  Albania does not have any legislation in force regarding the marketing of food composed of, 
or containing, GMOs. However, Law No. 9863 of 28 January 2008, as amended, has a chapter on 
food composed of, or containing, GMOs. This chapter allows, subject to risk analysis and 
authorization by the MARDWA, imports of food contai ning GMOs (classified as 'new food') provided 
that products are labelled as containing GMOs (Article 36). This chapter entered into force in May 2013.  
3.78.  Under Law No. 9362 of 24 March 2005, plants and plant products are inspected by 
inspectors from the Plant Protection Service at  approved customs entry points. The numbers of 
inspections of consignments of plants and plant products for the review period are: 26 (2011), 48 
(2012), 83 (2013), 165 (2014), and 102 (2015).  Where there are concerns about quality, 
consignments are held at the border inspection post and samples taken. Imports must be accompanied by phytosanitary certificates. Only registered plant protection products may be 
imported into Albania: the register is held by th e Directorate of Plant Protection Services. In order 
to add a new product to this list, an assessment involving several agencies must be undertaken. An import licence is also required from the Directorate of Plant Protection Services. Import licences may only be granted to graduates of the Faculty of Agronomy.  
                                               
51 Draft acts are sent to the General Dire ctorate of Standardization for comments. 
52 WTO documents G/SPS/N/ALB/126, 15 February 2010 to G/SPS/N/ALB/184, 29 May 2015.  
53 WTO documents G/SPS/N/ALB/149, 5 June 2012, G/SPS/N/ALB/154, 6 July 2012, G/SPS/N/ALB/155, 
2 August 2012, G/SPS/N/ALB/171, 17 February 2014,  and G/SPS/N/ALB/182, 20 February 2015.   
54 The NFA adopts the lists approved by the EU for the third countries. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  3.1.10  Other measures 
3.79.  The authorities state that Albania does not maintain any trade-related investment 
measures.  
3.2  Measures Directly Affecting Exports 
3.2.1  Export procedures and requirements 
3.80.  Albanian legislation on customs matters, including exports, is contained in the Customs 
Code (Law No. 8449 of 27 January 1999), as amended. Export procedures are the same for goods 
transported by air, by sea or by road.  
3.81.  Goods that are not subject to prohibition or restriction measures and with a value of up to 
lek 100,000, may be cleared for export directly at the border; the customs declaration does not need to be submitted in advance. This provision does not apply when the person making the 
export declaration is a professional customs agent. In all other cases, export declarations must be 
submitted to Customs prior to export. Based on risk analysis, exports are inspected prior to 
loading into containers. There are no registration  requirements for exporters or export products. 
Export declarations are processed electronically.  
3.2.2  Export taxes, charges, and levies 3.82.  Albania does not apply any export duties or taxes. 
3.2.3  Export prohibitions, restrictions, and licensing 
3.83.  The exportation of firearms, ammunition, psychotropic substances, and narcotic drugs is 
prohibited. Special export permits are required for precious metals, antiques, national costumes of artistic or folkloric value, and books and works of art that form part of the national heritage and 
culture. Exports of some organic chemicals in cluded in HS Chapter 29 are prohibited to 
non-signatories of the Montreal Protocol.  
3.84.  Export licences are required for the exportation of military goods, under Law No. 9707 of 
5 April 2007 "For the state control of import/export activity of military goods". The Albanian State 
Export Control Authority controls the export/import of military goods and technology. The Authority also has competence to grant import, export and production licences for explosive 
materials (previously granted by the Minister of Defence). These licences are for one year for 
imports and exports, and eight years for production. The Council of Ministers approves, annually, the list of goods subject to state control of export s, to reflect the respective lists of controlled 
goods in the EU. The exportation of radioactive ma terials is regulated by the Radiation Protection 
Commission and subject to licensing. 
3.2.4  Export support and promotion 3.85.  Law No. 9374 of 21 April 2005 "On State Aid", as amended by Law No. 10183 of 29 October 
2009, explicitly forbids aid directly linked to the quantity of goods exported and/or to current 
expenditure linked to an export activity. Aid cont ingent upon the use of domestic over imported 
goods is also prohibited. The Law does not apply, however, to aid granted to agriculture and 
fisheries. Albania notified the WTO in 2011 that during the calendar years 2009 and 2010 it had 
provided no agricultural export subsidies.
55  
3.86.  On 28 May 2015, Law No. 54 "On some amendments and addenda to Law No. 9789" was 
adopted. The Law abolished the previous "economic zones", "free zones" and "industrial parks", 
which were replaced by "technology and economic development areas".56 A technology and 
                                               
55 WTO document G/AG/N/ALB/5, 19 July 2011. 
56 Albania created a programme of economic zone s, through Law No. 9789, which regulated the 
establishment, functioning, and supervision of econom ic zones; the rights and obligations of responsible 
institutions, developers, operators and users acting under  their authority; the kind of activities that were 
performed within them; as well as th e way of determining the sites and bo rders. The law defined an "economic 
zone" as a territory having a specific  economic status, which could be a free zone or industrial park.  The WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  economic development area is a designated area of land or buildings and other immovable 
property, which inter alia  provides relevant infrastructure for production, industrial development, 
trade and provision of services. Albanian legislation applies inside the areas. The developer and operator in an area are exempt from customs duties and value added tax. The developer and 
operator in an area are exempted from the payment of a 50% tax-on-profit rate for the first 5 
years of their activity in the area; additionally, 20% of the annual capital expenses are recognized 
as deductible expenses in the tax period for the developer and user investing in the area, for a 
period of 2 years.
57  
3.87.  The Ministry of Economic Development, Tourism, Trade and Entrepreneurship (MEDTTE) is 
responsible for following up all activities rela ted to the technology and economic development 
areas, including identifying, accepting, announcing, evaluating and selecting developers and 
licensing areas. Goods entering the area are su bject to customs control and surveillance, in 
accordance with the Customs Code. Goods that originate in other parts of the customs territory of Albania and are not in transit in the area, are considered as exports. Infrastructure services 
offered by the rest of the customs territory of Alba nia to licensed developers and users of the area 
are considered service exports. Goods that are tran sferred from an area to the rest of the customs 
territory and that are not in transit are subject to payment of all import duties. Any part of these 
goods that has been processed in the customs territory of Albania is subtracted from the value of 
the products obtained, for the purpose of calcul ating customs duties. The other taxes and duties 
are applied on the full value. Payments connected to the activity of the natural and legal entities 
operating within the technological and economic development areas may be in local or foreign 
currency.  
3.88.  Albania has a few customs regimes that contain special provisions or treatment for exports. 
Under the Temporary Admission Regime, non-Alba nian goods destined for re-export without 
transformation may be used in the Albanian customs territory completely or partially exempted 
from import duties. Goods may be held under this regime for a maximum of one year. A fee 
equivalent to 3% of the total import duties is payable for each month the goods are in Albania.  
3.89.  Albania also maintains a drawback system fo r all goods except those subject to quantitative 
import restrictions, or that might, within quotas, qualify for a preferential tariff measure or duty suspension. The authorities state that the customs regime "on reimbursement" foresees the application of drawbacks on exports. The drawback  system may be used only if no other export 
refund has been received.  
3.90.  Albania also has a system of Processing under Customs Control, which allows the tariff-free 
importation of goods for processing in Albania. The nature of the goods must be altered through 
processing; and the resulting products are released for circulation in Albania subject to payment of 
the relevant customs duty. This procedure is authorized only for persons established in Albania, and where the imported component can be identified in the processed products. The procedure 
must not result in a circumvention of rules of origin. Between 2010 and 2015, 3 requests for 
processing under customs control were made; currently, only one operator works under the authorization in the field of medicine.  
3.2.5  Export finance, insurance and guarantees 
3.91.  Albania maintains an export guarantees  scheme by the Export-Credit Guarantee Fund, 
which has been notified to the WTO Subsidies and Countervailing Measures Committee (SCM)
58. 
However, according to the authorities, the scheme,  managed by the Export Credit Guarantee Unit 
                                                                                                                                               
economic zones were aimed at:  encouraging investments; creating new jobs; accelerating regional 
development and integration into the international market; and introducing advanced technology. 
57 In a technological and economic development ar ea, notwithstanding the amortization amounts, the 
project of the developer is exempted from the infrastructur e impact tax. Constructions realized in the area are 
exempted from the immovable property tax for a five-year period. The developers or users of the area are 
exempted from the tax on transferring the right of ownership on immovable properties. There are other 
provisions such as those related to the supply of Albani an goods, expenses for salaries and social and health 
contributions of the employer, expenses for salaries, and costs of training employees. 
58 WTO documents G/SCM/N/220/ALB and G/SCM/N/220/ALB/Corr.1, 20 January 2012 and 26 January 
2012. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  in the Albanian Investment Development Agency (AIDA), is currently not functioning.59 The 
Competitiveness Fund managed by AIDA is part of the public grants accorded to SMEs with a view to developing the export sector, improving the qu ality of exported products and increasing their 
competitiveness in the market (Section 3.3.2). 
3.3  Measures Affecting Production and Trade 
3.3.1  Legal framework for business 3.92.  All companies must be registered in the Register of Companies. Law No. 9901 of 
14 April 2008 "On Entrepreneurs and Companies" regulates the establishment and management of 
commercial companies in Albania.
60 Law No. 9723 of 3 May 2007 "On the National Registration 
Centre" established the National Registration Centre (NRC) as a central public institution. The NRC provides access to registry information via the internet and electronic registration is foreseen; it 
has service windows countrywide. 
3.93.  Albanian legislation provides for companies to be established under four main corporate 
forms: general partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, and joint-stock 
company. Individuals may also register to do business in Albania; they have unlimited liability for 
debts incurred as a result of their business. The most common corporate form used by foreign investors is the limited liability company. Foreign companies may also be established through a 
representative office or a branch; they are subject to the same procedures and formalities required 
for the formation of an Albanian company. Branch es of foreign companies are subject to the same 
tax treatment as domestic companies. According the Albanian Civil Code, joint ventures can be established by two or more persons, whether individuals or legal entities, foreign or national, 
agreeing to engage in an economic activity in order to share profits deriving from them. 
3.94.  Law No. 8438 of 28 December 1998 governs income tax for natural and legal persons. All 
domestic and foreign companies engaging in economic activities in Albania are subject to income 
tax on all their sources of income based in Albania. Foreign companies based abroad but with 
activities in Albania are taxed only on the basis of their Albanian operations. The Law No.8438/1998 was amended by Law No. 177/2013 of 28 December 2013, which entered into force 
on 1 January 2014; the amendment introduced progre ssive tax rates instead of the previous flat 
rate of 10%. The new tax rate for personal income tax is: (1) 0% up to a monthly taxable income of lek 30,000 – unchanged from the previous system; (2) 13% of the amount exceeding lek 30,000, for a monthly taxable income of between lek 30,001 and 130,000; and (3) lek 13,000 plus 
23% of the monthly taxable income exceeding 130,000, for a monthly taxable income above 
130,000. Taxable income includes corporate earnings, distributed stock dividends, income from the lease and transfer of real property, and interest on bank deposits and securities.  
3.95.  Profit tax (corporate tax on profits) is 15% as of 1 January 2014, instead of 10% previously.  
3.96.  The authorities state that a draft law "O n amendments of Law No. 8438" was approved by 
the Council of Ministers and is being discussed in the Parliament.  
3.97.  With the adoption of the new 2014 fiscal package, Law No. 179/2013 of 28 December 2013, 
the Government has taken a number of initiatives such as: (1) no VAT on machinery worth over US$ 500,000 that is deemed to be used to increase productivity; (2) no taxes on small businesses with an annual turnover of less than lek 2 million – small businesses will pay an annual tax of 
lek 25,000; (3) businesses with an annual turnover  of between lek 2 million and 8 million are 
                                               
59 The Export-Credit Guarantee Fund aims to support  exporters, through stat e guarantees for short-
term financing loans, in order to en sure that domestic exporters face the same financing terms and conditions 
as foreign ones. The Fund also aims at increasing the competitiveness of Albanian undertakings; it is managed by the Albanian Investment Development Agency (AIDA) in the MEDTTE. The subsidy is in the form of loan 
guarantees to exporting small and medium-sized ente rprises (SMEs). The maximum amount of the guarantee 
is lek 10 million per customer, for a maximum of 12 months and 80% of the value of the credit. 
60 AIDA online information. Vi ewed at: http://www.aida.gov.al/ pages/registration-licensing 
[28.10.2015].  WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  subject to a tax rate of 7.5%; (4) no VAT on medicines or health services, as of 1 April 2014; and 
(5) no excise duty on fuel used for the needs of oil producing companies.61 
3.98.  Law No. 9632/2006 provides for the application of a tax on small businesses, defined as 
those with an annual turnover of less than lek 8 million. This tax is applied instead of income tax 
on profits and is divided into two categories: a fixed amount on turnover of up to lek 2 million, 
plus a proportional tax of 1.5% on income of between lek 2 and 8 million. The authorities state 
that the tax due is always presumptive, based on  the turnover agreed between the taxpayer and 
the tax authorities, rather than on actual turnover.  
3.99.  According to a World Bank study, in 2015, Albania was ranked second among the top ten 
reformers, and 97th overall out of 189 economies analysed.62 
 
3.3.2  Incentives 
3.100.  State assistance to private economic acti vity is governed by Law No. 9374 of 21 April 2005 
"On State Aid", as amended by Law No. 10183 of 29 October 2009, unchanged since Albania's 
previous review.63 The law applies to all manufacturing and services activities; it does not apply to 
state aid granted to agriculture and fisheries. It establishes the conditions under which state aid may be granted, namely, if it: promotes the economic development of areas with low standards of 
living or where there is serious unemployment; promotes a project of national importance or 
remedies a serious disturbance in the economy; facilitates the development of certain economic activities or of certain economic areas, provid ed the aid granted does not adversely affect the 
obligations under any international agreements ratified by Albania; or promotes cultural 
development and heritage conservation, where it does not seriously affect trading conditions and 
competition. The authorities state that locals and foreigners are treated alike with respect to the fiscal incentives provided.  
3.101.  The law forbids aid directly linked to export quantities or current expenditure linked to 
export activities, as well as aid contingent upon the use of domestic over imported goods. Aid to sensitive sectors is not compatible with this law, unless provided by the State Aid Commission 
(SAC). In 2014, sectoral state aid amounted to lek 1,115 million; the aid was granted to public 
services (water supply and sewage – in the form of a subsidy from the state budget to 55 water supply undertakings managed by local municipalities),  public transport (railways – in the form of a 
direct subsidy), mining (closure and conservation). Aid for the energy sector was also granted, 
amounting to lek 195 million in the form of deferred payment of VAT for electricity import. Aid 
classified as de minimis  is compatible with this law.
64 Nonetheless, it would appear that the 
implementation of the law is poor, mainly du e to the lack of independence and adequate 
administrative capacity of the competent bodies.65  
3.102.  SMEs may receive state aid for consultancy services but aid must not exceed 50% of the 
costs of these services, and the services may not be a periodic or continuous activity or related to 
usual operating expenditures. The same percentage applies for first participation in fairs and 
exhibitions, where the aid must not exceed 50% of the additional costs incurred in renting, setting 
up, and running a stand. Newly created SMEs ma y also receive aid, of up to €200,000 for 
installation costs. Aid for disadvantaged and disa bled workers must not exceed 75% of the wage 
costs for disabled workers and 50% of the wage costs for disadvantaged workers. 
                                               
61 AIDA online information. Viewed at: http://www.aida.gov .al/pages/taxes [28.10.2015]. 
62 World Bank online information. Viewed at: http://www.doingbusiness.org . 
63 Law No. 9374 is being revised and assessed by the Parliament. Under Law No. 9374, state aid may 
take the form of:  subsidies or grants;  exemptions , reductions and deferrals of taxes and other fiscal 
contributions; writing-off of overdue fe es and penalties; debt wr ite-offs or offsetting of  losses; loan guarantees 
or loans at reduced fees/rates of in terest; reduction of social security obligations; reduction in the price of 
goods supplied; sales of public proper ty below market prices; purchase of products or services at above the 
market price; and increase of state-owned equity in und ertakings or increase of its value in circumstances not 
acceptable to a private investor under normal economic conditions. 
64 Aid is considered to be de minimis  if it does not exceed €100,000 for any three-year period, 
irrespective of its form and objective, provided it is not linked to export-related activities, it is not conditioned 
upon the use of domestic over import ed goods, and the recipient is not ex periencing economic difficulties (e.g. 
is on the verge of bankruptcy). 
65 UNCTAD (2015), Voluntary Peer Review of Comp etition Law and Policy: Albania . WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  3.103.  The State Aid Commission (SAC), composed of five members and chaired by the minister 
in charge of economic affairs, is the decision-making body for state aid. The Commission is responsible for assessing and authorizing state-ai d schemes and individual aid, on the basis of 
proposals of the State Aid Department of the MEDTTE. Providers must notify the State Aid 
Department of any plans to grant state aid; the SAC must give its approval before any aid can be 
granted. The Commission's decisions must be taken within 60 calendar days of the receipt of a complete notification. If the Commission finds aid to be unlawful, it can issue an injunction to 
suspend the aid and order the recovery of any disbursement made from the beneficiary. The 
recovered amount, together with interest, is  added to the budget of the aid provider. 
3.104.  The Law on State Aid mandates that all aid providers must report to the Department all 
existing aid schemes within six months of their entry into force. The authorities state that these 
schemes are notified, listed, and assessed by the SAC, which takes a decision in each case with 
respect to compatibility with the Law. According to  the authorities, all existing state-aid schemes 
are listed in the Report on the Inventory of State Aid Schemes in Albania, as approved by DCM 
No. 45 of 16 January 2008.  
3.105.  SMEs may benefit from the Albanian Competitiveness Fund, established by Law No. 9645 
of 27 November 2006 "On the State Budget of 2007" , and managed by AIDA. The purpose of this 
scheme is to increase the competitiveness of SM Es through improvement of their products and 
management qualities, delivery of products with high market standards, and their integration into regional and European markets. The benefit takes th e form of a grant with cost sharing of up to 
70%, for a maximum of lek 1.4 million per undertaking. The benefit scheme is for three years; the 
total amount budgeted for 2015 was lek 17.8 million.
66 In 2015, 24 companies were accorded 
grants totalling about lek 17.0 million. 
3.106.  The Government runs a scheme of VAT exemption on payments for the import of 
equipment and machinery in order to facilitate private-sector investments in Albania. This scheme 
initially had its legal basis in Law No. 7928 of 27 April 1995 and DCM No. 180 of 13 February 2013. The scheme is now governed by Law 92/2014 and DCM No. 953 of 29 December 2014, as 
amended.
67 The VAT exemptions are accorded to equi pment and machinery imported by subjects 
fulfilling, inter alia , the criteria of DCM No. 953. Application to the customs administration is 
necessary to receive such exemptions. In 2015, revenue foregone by VAT exemptions amounted to about lek 10 billion.  
3.107.  Albania maintains a programme of technology and economic development areas (Section 
3.2.4).  
3.108.  A Development Programme for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) funded by Italy aims 
at improving access to finance for SMEs. The programme consists of a €25 million credit line and a 
guarantee fund of €2.5 million for loan guarantees that aim to counter the main obstacles to bank crediting. On 12 July 2014, a Programme of Integr ated Assistance for the Development of Albanian 
SMEs entered into force; the programme is to replenish the financial facilities established within 
the first phase of the Italian-funded programme by providing an additional €15 million.
68 The 
second component, the guarantee fund, started to be implemented in April 2011, after the signing 
of the Albanian Guarantee Fund (AGF) Participat ion Agreement between the Ministry of Economy 
and eight private commercial banks. Between 2009 and 2015 (up to 25 May), 99 investment 
projects (including 23 agribusinesses) were financed from the credit line amounting to around €21.9 million.   
3.109.  Albania has made regular notifications to the WTO under Article XVI:1 of the GATT 1994 or 
Article 25 of the SCM Agreement. In its most recent notification issued in 2015, Albania states that 
it does not grant or maintain any subsidies notifiable under Article XVI:1 of the GATT 1994 and 
Article 25.2 of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures.
69 In its 2012 notification, 
                                               
66 DCM No. 419 of 15 May 2015 "On the extension of the Competitiveness Fund for the period 2013-
2015". 
67 Consequently, Law No. 7928/1995 was repealed. 
68 The initiative aims at contributing to the economic  and social growth of Albania by: (1) supporting the 
access of Albanian SMEs to the credit system an d enhancing the development of the entrepreneurial 
environment; and (2) promoting social responsibility in Albanian SMEs. 
69 WTO document G/SCM/N/253/ALB and G/SCM/N/284/ALB, 5 May 2015. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  Albania included five incentives programmes: th e Export-Credit Guarantee Fund; deferral of VAT 
payment for imported machinery and equipment; ex cise duty exemptions for fuel oil utilized on 
energy generation by thermos power plants with a capacity greater than 5 MW; reimbursement of 
fuel excise for fuel consumed in heating greenhouses for industrial and agro-industrial 
manufacturing and used for technological needs of  production; and the Albanian Competitiveness 
Fund.70 Incentives linked to exports are described in Section 3.2.4 above. 
3.3.3  Competition policy and price controls 
3.110.  The Competition Authority of Albania (CAA), a public entity, independent in performing its 
tasks, is in charge of monitoring and implementing competition policy.71 It is directly appointed by 
and accountable to the National Assembly. The CAA's mission is to protect free and effective competition in the market by implementing the le gislation on competition. The National Assembly 
approves the annual budget for the CAA's activities. The revenues collected under Law No. 9121 of 
28 July 2003 "On Competition Protection" as amended, including revenues from sanctions, are disbursed to the state budget. The Law confers the right of the CAA to self-initiate investigations 
and to apply penalties. The current structure of  the CAA, approved through Decision of the 
Albanian Parliament No. 12 of 12 May 2008, comprises the Competition Commission and the Secretariat of the Competition Authority.
72  
3.111.  The main competition policy objectives are contained in the National Competition Policy 
issued in December 2006. The authorities state that  the CAA is in the process of drafting the new 
National Competition Policy. Competition policy is regulated by Law No. 9121 of 28 July 2003 "On Competition Protection", as amended by Law No. 10317 of 16 September 2010.
73 The 2010 
amendment introduced,  inter alia:  (1) applying Albania's competition rules to undertakings with 
special or exclusive rights to perform certain economic activities, or entrusted with the performance of services of general interest or  having the character of a revenue-producing 
monopoly provided that law enforcement does not ob struct the fulfilment of the tasks assigned to 
them
74; (2) empowering the CAA with the ability to grant individual exemption from the general 
prohibition as well as to block exemptions to certain categories of agreements between 
undertakings; (3) a de minimis  rule applied to all agreements that do not significantly restrict 
competition; (4) introduction of a "significant impediment of effective competition" test for mergers
75; (5) allowing the initiation of a preliminary investigation with the approval of the 
Commission (previously, only the Secretary General of the Commission was authorized to approve 
it); (6) removing the relevant legal provisions that required an undertaking that is deemed to be 
abusing the market power to prove that its practice was not infringing the law for objective reasons of legal or economic nature; and (7) intr oducing a maximum sanction (fine) of 10% of the 
infringer's turnover instead of the previous minimum sanction of 2% of turnover. Law No. 
9121/2003, as amended, applies to any entity, pub lic or private, engaged in commercial activity, 
as well as to any associations thereof; it is also applicable to foreign entities whose activities have 
                                               
70 WTO documents G/SCM/N/220/ALB, 20 January 2012, and G/SCM/N/220/ALB/Corr.1, 26 January 
2012. 
71 The CAA is a full-right member of Competition International Network, which includes 65 other 
competition authorities from various countries. 
72 The Competition Commission is the CAA's decision-making body; it is a permanent collegial body 
within the CAA's structure. It is has five members,  appointed for a five-year term by the Assembly. The 
Chairman of the Commis sion is the head of the CAA. The Secret ariat monitors market conditions, performs 
administrative investigations, and prepares the related reports that are presented to the Competition Commission. In addition, the Secretar iat represents the Competition Commis sion before the courts and follows 
up and supervises the implementation of decisions taken by the Commission. The Secretariat is headed by a General-Secretary electe d by the Commission. 
73 Relevant regulations include various Albanian  Competition Commission Decisions: No. 190 of 
26 May 2011; No. 187 of 3 May 2011; No. 179 of 2 March 2011; No. 176 of 24 February 2011; No. 234 of 19 July 2012; No. 235 of 19 July 2012; No. 236 of 19 July 2012; No. 276 of 18 March 2013; No. 286 of 21 May 2013; No. 295 of 14 November 2013; No. 322 of 3 July 2014; No. 332 of 9 October 2014; No. 352 of 3 March 2015; and No. 374 of 8 October 2015. 
74 During the period under review, no application of the act was made to such undertakings. In practice, 
the CAA has been legally authorized to assess public contracts and concessions granted by the State to certain undertakings and to exempt them, if deemed necessary, fr om the application of Albania's competition rules, in 
accordance with legal requirements for exemption. UNCTAD (2015).  
  
75 This reflects recent developments in the EU to replacing the "dominance" test. The authorities indicate 
that the threshold of the turnover required for merger notification was decreased and certain improvements in 
the merger proceedings were put in place. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  an effect on the Albanian market. The authorities state that the 2010 amendment is in line with EU 
legislation, although certain differences remain; they consider that the law has been approximated to a broad extent with the acquis communautaire , not only in substance but also in terms of its 
implementation tools. The notification regime a ccording the individual exemptions (agreements) is 
still in force in the Albanian law. The law deals with three main areas: agreements with serious 
consequences on the market (cartels
76), abuse of dominant position, and economic concentrations.  
3.112.  Law No. 9121, as amended, prohibits certain practices, independently of their effects, 
including all agreements that prevent, restrict or distort competition, and in particular those that: 
(a) directly or indirectly fix purchase or selling prices, or any other trading conditions; (b) limit or control production, markets, technical development, or investment; (c) share markets or sources of supply; (d) apply dissimilar conditions to equivalent transactions with other trading parties, 
thereby placing them at a competitive disadvantage; and (e) make contracts subject to acceptance 
of supplementary obligations that have no connect ion with the subject of such contracts. These 
prohibited agreements are not considered legally valid. 
3.113.  Article 5 of the law foresees the exemptio n of individual agreements. During the period 
under review, the Competition Commission approved four individual exemptions from the competition law. They were: (1) Decision of Competition Commission No. 225 of 28 May 2012 "For 
exemption from the prohibition of agreement of cooperation between undertakings in the market 
of information exchange insurance for border insurance of motorized vehicles for responsibility towards third parties"
77; (2) Decision of Competition Commission No. 298 of 6 December 2013 "On 
the legal assessment of the compatibility of the law and regulations of cooperation agreements 
between undertakings of the insurance market and information exchange for the market of 
compulsory insurance of transport vehicles in relation to third parties"78; (3) Decision of 
Competition Commission No. 338 of 11 November 2014 "On the individual exemption from the 
prohibition of agreement between undertakings Digitalb Sh.A and other television operators"79; 
and (4) Decision of Competition Commission No. 367 of 4 June 2015 on "Exemption from the 
prohibition of agreement to buy-sell electric ity between KESH and OSHEE, for redundancies 
                                               
76 Nonetheless, the law does not define cartels. 
77 On 6 April 2012, the Competition Authority, in accord ance with Article 5 and 48 of the law, received a 
notice from the authorized representative of several insurers on their request to be exempted from the 
prohibited agreement. The purpose of the agreement was to be information exch ange to cover the risk 
associated with the insurance holder, information exchan ge regarding insurance premiu m, organization of joint 
studies of market and the distribution of these results without delay to all parties. A report by the Competition 
Commission concluded that the agreem ent did not affect competition and it  contributed to the improvement of 
service and payment from the insurance companies. 
78 The undertakings involved made a self-assessment of the compatibility of the law and regulation and 
asked for confirmation from the Competition Authority regarding this compatibilit y. The objective of the 
agreement was to exchange information between parties to cover the risk of the third party liability (TPL) 
insurance, to set certain standards re lated to motor third party liability (MTPL) insurance, and to allow the 
calculation of the average costs of life insurances. The pa rticipating parties in the agreement declared that they 
were aware and motivated to respect the principles of effective competition and will make efforts to not adopt 
behaviours that will limit competition and violate Arti cle 4 of the Law on "Competition Protection" or get 
involved in setting of prices and market shares, but will operate only within the legal framework established by the law. The Commission based on these facts decided that  the parties involved are in  accordance with Article 
3 of the Regulation "For the application of Article 6 of LPMK to certain categories of agreements decisions and 
concerted practices in the sector insurance" and therefore exempted from prohibited agreements. The 
Commission requires the parties involved to respect the following commitments: (1) the undertakings must continue to sell their insurances un der their personal logos, (2) the part ies should report to the Competition 
Authority regarding the measures they will put in place to  ensure their internal MTPL  insurance policies do not 
get forged, and (3) the parties should make any inform ation available to the Authority whenever they are 
required to. 
79 The purpose of the agreement presented by Digitalb Sh.A is to include the following channels in its 
digital platform: TOP CHANEL, SHOP TV, KLAN TV, ORA NEWS, NEWS-24, ABC NEWS, A1 REPORT, UTV NEWS, SUPERSONIC, STV FOLK, KANALI FOLKLORIT, SCAN  TV, CHANEL ONE, and ALBANIAN SCREEN. The 
Commission concluded that the agreement had the following  benefits: (1) it contributes to the improvement of 
distribution, (2) it allows the consumers to have a di rect cut in these benefits , (3) it does not put the 
undertakings vertical restrictions wh ich are unnecessary to achieve these benefits, (4) it does not seriously 
affect competition in relation to the services and pr oducts of the agreement and (5) the agreement will be 
limited until the end of 2015. The Commission also imposed certain restrictions related to transmission and 
distribution. After assessing the agreement the Commis sion decided that the pros overweigh the cons and 
decided to exempt it from the prohibited agreement. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  including those from large flows of water, to comp ensate for the loss in the distribution network for 
2015".80  
3.114.  The Law also stipulates the evaluation crit eria for assessing an undertaking with dominant 
position in the market. The dominant position of one or more undertakings is appraised notably by 
establishing the following: (a) the relevant market shares of the investigated undertakings and 
those of the other competitors; (b) the barriers to entry into the relevant market; (c) the potential competition; (d) the economic and financial power of the undertakings; (e) the economic 
dependence of the suppliers and purchasers; (f) the countervailing power of buyers or customers; 
(g) the development of the undertakings' distributi on network, and access to the sources of supply 
of products; (h) the undertakings' links with othe r undertakings; (i) other characteristics of the 
relevant market such as the homogeneity of th e products, the transparency of the market, the 
undertakings' cost and size symmetries, the st ability of the demand, or the free production 
capacities. Article 9 of the law stipulates that any abuse by one or more undertakings of a dominant position in the market is prohibited.  
3.115.  Certain substantial concentration of undertakings must be notified to the Authority for 
authorization.
81 The Commission prohibits concentrations that significantly restrain effective 
competition as a result inter alia  of creation or strengthening of a dominant position. In making 
the appraisal, the Commission may take into acco unt the economic efficiencies resulting from the 
concentration.82 The Commission may not prohibit a concentration where one of the involved 
undertakings is in serious risk of bankruptcy and does not have any less anticompetitive options at its disposal. If the concentration does not show any indication of significant restriction of 
competition in the market as a result of established or strengthened dominant position, the 
Commission shall decide to authorize the concentration within two months from the date of the notification. Where the Commission finds that the concentration shows such indications, it shall 
decide to authorize the concentration based on conditions and obligations stipulated in Article 61 of 
the law or open an investigation to decide, within three month of the initiation of the investigation, to declare whether the concentration is prohibited or not.   
3.116.  The CAA has the authority to apply fines, cease and desist orders, and other civil remedies 
as a result of its investigations. Articles 73 and 74 define the fines. Article 73 stipulates "fines for not serious infringement" where the fines imposed to the undertakings must not exceed 1% of the aggregate turnover of the previous financial year. Such fines are imposed notably when the 
undertakings provide: incorrect, incomplete or misleading information in response to a 
Commission request or decision or do not provide the data within the deadline specified in a Commission decision or the Secretariat request; incorrect, incomplete or misleading information in 
their notifications; inaccurate and incomplete a dditional data and documents; or the required 
books or other business records in incomplete form during inspection. The fines are imposed when 
                                               
80 The agreement's purpose is to bu y/sell in order to compensate fo r the losses in the distribution 
system given excess quantities of water flow for 2015. It is limited to a cert ain period of the year when there is 
a higher flow of water. Based on the investigation proc edures followed by the Authority in relation to the 
market of electrical energy trade from OSHEE to cover it s distribution loses, it concluded that there was no 
competition in this market segment due to the heavy regulations put in place by  OSHEE. The agreement may 
potentially limit competition for other sellers of electric al energy who enter the procedures to sell energy in 
order to compensate for losses in the distribution system. The agreement was exempted from prohibition due 
to the following reasons: (1) it contributes to national safety and social problems arising from the flooding of 
designated areas due to drainage, (2) it contributes to the maximum exploitation and optimization of produced 
energy distribution, (3) it ensures a decrease of cost s since it guarantees the covering of losses in the 
distribution, (4) it brings essential be nefits for debtor consumers given the insurance costs of buying electricity 
to cover loses are included in the final price per kW. Considering that that the agreement was in the public interest, the Authority decided to exempt it from prohibited agreements until the end of 2015. 
81 If in the financial year preceding the concentratio n; (1) the aggregate worldwide turnover of all the 
participating undertakings exceeds lek 7 billion, and the individu al turnover in Albania of at least one of the 
participating undertakings exceeds lek 200 million; or (2) the aggregate turnover in Albania of all the participating undertakings exceeds lek 400 million, and the individual turnover of at least one of the participating undertakings on the domestic market is over lek 200 million. Concentrations must be notified within 30 days of the conclusion of the agreement, the acquisition of a controlling interest, the creation of a joint venture, or the announcement of th e public bid for purchase or exchange. 
82 Provided that they meet all the following conditio ns: (1) the efficiencies should contribute to the 
improvement of consumers' wellbeing, or at least neutralize the potential negative effects that the 
concentration would have; (2) the effi ciencies have, or should have, re sulted from the concentration under 
review; and (3) no other less anti-competitive alte rnative ways to generate them exist except the 
concentration under review. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  the undertakings: refuse to submit to inspections ordered by a decision; refuse to answer any 
questions on facts; or provide inaccurate, incomplete or fraudulent answers or obstruct the inspections. Article 74 stipulates "fines for serious infringements" where the fines imposed on the undertakings are a maximum of 10% of the aggregate turnover in the preceding financial year. 
Such fines are imposed notably when the undertakings: infringe Article 4 (prohibited agreements) 
or Article 9 (abuse of dominant position); contravene a decision ordering interim measures; fail to comply with a condition and obligation set by the CCA; put into effect a concentration that results 
in competition restriction in the market in contradiction with the obligation set by the decisions of 
the CCA; put into effect a concentration prohibited by the CCA or do not take the necessary measures to restore the competition. 
3.117.  In addition, Article 76 provides for "per iodic penalties/fines", and Article 78 "individual 
fines". Article 77 stipulates leniency foreseeing cases where the CCA may grant total or partial 
immunity from fines.  
3.118.  Since 2010, the CAA has initiated 46 investigations, which were preliminary or in-depth 
investigations in different sectors of the economy, regarding potential anti-competitive behaviour, 
abuse of dominant positions or prohibited agreements.
83 Since 2010, the CAA has also taken 201 
decisions in total. Out of these, 46 decisions were on concentrations, 10 on abuse of dominant 
positions, 14 on prohibited agreements, 3 on  exemption of prohibited agreements, 23 on 
approving secondary legal acts such as regulations and guidelines, 20 on recommendations on public institutions relating to competition concerns, 14 on imposing fines to undertakings for anti-competitive behaviour and infringing the completion rules, one on interim measures, and one on 
conditions and obligations. 
3.119.  Decisions by the CAA may be appealed in court. Since the creation of the Administrative 
Court in 2012, all the court files and court procedures have been transferred to the First 
Administrative Court and then to the Administrati ve Appeal Court and the High Court. During 2010 
and 2015, there were nine court decisions that have taken final form at the Administrative Appeal Court, and five other decisions that are still in the ongoing process at the Administrative Appeal 
Court.  
3.120.  In general, price controls are not applied in Albania, although prices for telecommunication 
services, water, and electricity are regulated.   
3.3.4  State trading, state-owne d enterprises, and privatization 
3.121.  Albania notified to the WTO that it does not maintain any state trading enterprises within 
the meaning of Article XVII of the GATT 1994.
84  
3.122.  The Ministry of Economic Development, Tourism, Trade and Entrepreneurship (MEDTTE) is 
in charge of implementing the privatization strategy with regard to most strategic sectors; the 
Ministry of Finance is the responsible authority for banking. The MEDTTE performs the process of 
completing the documents for the privatization of assets while selling them is carried out by the 
Ministry of Finance. The CAA analyses whether the privatization of a given company may result in 
a monopolistic position.  
3.123.   Changes since 2010 in legislation relate d to privatization include the following: (1) 
amendments to the legal framework related to the pr ivatization of INSIG S.A. such as adoption of 
Law No. 22/2015 of 19 March 2015 "On the repeal of the Law No. 10168", as amended, Law 
No. 38/2015 of 16 April 2015 "On an amendment to  Law No. 8,831 of 22 November 2001", under 
which the ownership of INSIG was transferred fr om the Ministry of Finance to the MEDTTE, 
because INSIG was removed from strategic sectors as stipulated by Law No. 10166 of 15 October 
                                               
83 The details of the investigations are found in Decisions of the Competition Commission Nos.: 147, 
155, 156, 157, 184 (issued in 2010); 191, 196, 201, 205, 211 (issued in 2011); 215, 218, 219, 222, 233, 245, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 257, 258 (issued in 2012); 262, 274, 275, 277, 292, 297 (issued in 2013); 302, 306, 
310, 315, 316, 326, 333, 336, 342 (issued in 2014); 344, 346, 355, 360, 361, 373, 376, and 380 (issued in 
2015).  
84 WTO document G/STR/N/13/ALB, G/STR/N/14/ALB, G/STR/N/15/ALB, 12 June 2014. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  200985, and DCM No. 546 of 18 June 2015 "On defining the form and formula of privatization of 
shares of the INSIG S.A.", under which the Govern ment is to sell 100% of its shares in this 
company through an open tender; (2) adoption  of Law No. 52/2014 of 22 May 2014 "On the 
insurance and reinsurance activity", under which the sale procedures and contract is to be 
approved in advance by the Albanian Financial Supervisory Authority (AFSA); (3) adoption of DCM 
No. 832 of 3 December 2014 "On the procedures of  privatization through auction of state owned 
share packages in companies in the non-strategic se ctors", which, applied to the privatization of all 
state owned companies in non-strategic sectors, stipulates inter alia  the rules on procedures for 
the selection of the privatization formula, procedures for the sale of share packages, and auctioning procedures; (5) adoption of DCM No. 926 of 29 December 2014 "On the criteria for the evaluation of the state property that is privatized  or transformed, and the sale procedure", which, 
applied to all state-owned companies and their facilities and assets that are going to be privatized, 
inter alia  stipulates the rules for the selection of companies to be privatized, and sets up 
evaluation commissions, procedures for the assessment of the value of immovable properties, 
evaluation of amortization, and procedures for the sale of these properties (recognizing the right of 
first purchase to the former land owners).  
3.124.  In 2013, the Government privatized 100% of the shares of the 2 HPP companies in 
strategic sectors: "HPP Ulez-Shkopet Sh.A" and "HPP Bistrica 1 and Bistrica 2 Sh.A" as well as 
some assets and state shares in some companies in the non-strategic sectors. Privatization proceeds since 2010 amounted to US$187.1 million: 80% corresponded to the privatization of companies in the main strategic sectors; and 20% to the privatization and asset sales of small and 
medium enterprises and sale of land. 
3.125.  The State currently has a share in 71 companies and statutory bodies (Table A3.4).  3.126.  The current scheme of arrears payments of state-owned undertakings has been applied 
through a series of decisions of the Council of Ministers. The scheme aims at aiding state-owned 
undertakings, reducing their liabilities especially in the water supply and mines sector. The original scheme was first implemented in 2002. The authorities state that the budget allocation to finance 
it has been reduced over the years. Since it began, the scheme has supported inter alia  the water-
supply and sewage services.  
3.3.5  Government procurement 3.127.  Albania is not a party to the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA); it is an 
observer to the Agreement. The authorities state that Albania intends not to accede to the GPA at 
the moment; the process of harmonization of Albania's national legislation with the EU acquis  in all 
areas is its priority and any process of accession to the GPA at the moment would, in their view, 
be demanding and difficult for Albania.  
3.128.  The main law governing public procurement in Albania has remained Law No. 9643 of 
20 November 2006, "On public procurement" (PPL),  as amended by several laws including Law 
No. 131/2012 of 27 December 2012 and Law No. 182/2014 of 24 December 2014. These 
amendments were intended to further harmonize the PPL with the EU directives in this area, transposing some of their provisions. Law No. 182/2014 excludes from its scope employment 
contracts and several legal services. The authorities state that the law also makes various 
arrangements and clarifications in relation to the problems identified during the implementation of 
the law in practice. For example, the law provides more detailed rules regarding the framework agreement that can be signed by a Contracting Authority with one or more economic operators 
only after the conclusion of one form of the procurement procedures provided by law. Law 
No. 9643 seeks to harmonize Albanian legislation and align procedures for the award of public 
works, services, and supply contracts with EU Directives, particularly Directive 2004/18/EC. The 
Law's regulations are contained in DCM No. 914 of 29 December 2014, DCM No. 918 of 29 
December 2014, and DCM No. 28 of 14 January 2015 regarding the central purchasing authority.
86 
Other laws and regulations relevant to public procurement in Albania include: Law No. 125/2013 "On concessions and public private partnership", as amended
87; Law No. 9874/2008 "On public 
                                               
85 The MEDTTE is the representative of the State as an owner for all public companies in non-strategic 
sectors. 
86 PPA online information. Viewed at : https://www.app.gov. al/ep/VKM.aspx/. 
87 Law No. 125/2013 repealed Law No. 9663 of 18 December 2006. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  auction", as amended; and Prime Minister's Order No. 13 of 11 February 2015 "On the adoption of 
the structure and organization chart of the Public Procurement Agency".  
3.129.  The public procurement regulatory framework also consists of several 
instructions/guidelines, manuals, and standard bidding documents.88 The legislation on public 
procurement applies to procedures for procurement of goods, public works, and services, and is 
applicable to economic operators and contracting authorities. Albania's procurement regime aims at complying with the acquis communautaire  and international standards.  
3.130.  Public procurement is decentralized, with each government agency responsible for its own 
procurement and for implementing and administering the relevant procurement-related provisions. Contracting authorities (CAs) are subject to moni toring by the Public Procurement Agency (PPA) 
and the Supreme Auditing Office. The PPA, under th e Prime Minister, is responsible for drafting 
legislation and regulations, advising CAs in rela tion to procurement procedures, and supervising 
and monitoring procurement activities, but is not a central procuring entity. The PPA also produces 
a Public Procurement Bulletin  (PPB) and provides procuring entities with advice and other support 
to ensure proper and uniform application of the PPL. CAs must keep records and documents 
regarding their awarding procedures, and must subm it a report on their procurement activities to 
the PPA every four months. The Public Pr ocurement Commission, established under Law 
No. 10170/2009, is the review body that deals wi th administrative complaints about public 
procurement procedures and issues administrative decisions in this regard. By the adoption of Law No. 131/2012, the Public Procurement Advocate was abolished with a view to avoiding the 
duplication of tasks and duties concerning government procurement in various institutions. The 
authorities consider that changes introduced by these recent laws accorded the PPA monitoring 
functions regarding the application of the public procurement procedures and a well-functioning procurement system, and the function of the ad ministrative review of complaints has been 
accorded exclusively to the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) since 2010. 
3.131.  Albania has government procurement provisions in its FTA with the EU. Where domestic 
legislation does not comply with any of Albania's obligations under any international agreements, 
such agreements prevail over domestic legislation. Otherwise domestic legislation applies with 
regard to public procurement procedures. Albania' s law does not grant any type of preference to 
domestic suppliers. 
3.132.  The PPL sets out in detail the rules applying to the procurement of goods, works and 
services by CAs. The stated objectives of the law are, inter alia,  to promote efficiency and efficacy 
in the public procurement procedure, and to ensure better use of public funds and reduce 
procedural costs. The PPL also aims to promote competition among economic operators, 
guaranteeing equal and non-discriminatory treatment for all economic operators, and enhancing 
transparency in public procurement procedures . The PPL applies to all types of procurement 
contracts, including procurement in the field of na tional defence with regard to civil procurements. 
The exceptions are procurement procedures classi fied as "state secret"; contracts subject to 
special security measures or in case of natural di sasters, war, armed operations, military training, 
and participation in military missions outside the country; contracts pursuant to international lending or donation agreements; contracts dealing with the acquisition or rental of buildings or 
land; and some specific services.
89 All public entities are covered by the PPL. The PPL applies to 
private entities to the extent they are in volved in a public procurement procedure. 
3.133.  The awarding principles under the PPL are:  openness, non-discrimination, transparency of 
procurement procedures, fair competition, and cost-effectiveness. The non-discrimination article 
specifies that no participant shall be discriminated against (or favoured) on grounds of nationality; both direct and indirect discrimination is prohibited. All essential procurement information must be 
published/made available, and the CA must ensure that tender documentation is readily available. 
Technical specifications must give a correct and complete description of the procurement. All 
                                               
88 PPA online information. Viewed at: ht tps://www.app.gov.al/ep/ Regulations.aspx/, 
https://www.app.gov. al/ep/ProcurementManuals.aspx/, and 
https://www.app.go v.al/ep/BiddingDocuments.aspx/. 
89 These are arbitration and financ ial services; purchase, developmen t, production, co-production of 
programmes, or commercials for broadcasting by radio an d television operators, or publication in the printed 
media, as well as contracts for broadcas ting time; arbitral or conciliation se rvices; sale, purchase or transfer of 
titles, or other financial in struments; research and development servic es; legal services such as arbitration, 
reconciliation, appointed lawyers and expertise for criminal proceedings and employment contracts.  WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  participants in a tender must be given notice of  the award decision, with justification, and the 
results of the procedure must be published. 
3.134.  Contracts must be awarded to the offer that meets the qualification criteria with the lowest 
price. CAs may use various criteria to this end, for example: quality, price, technical merit, cost 
effectiveness, after-sales service and technical assistance, delivery period, etc., provided the 
criteria are closely linked to the subject-matter of the contract are objective and non-discriminatory, and are clearly set out in the contract notice or in the tender documents. Offers 
must be assessed on economic and technical grounds only. 
3.135.  The legislation on public procurement sets  out the methods for calculating the value of a 
public contract, which must be based on the whol e payable amount (VAT currently at 20% is not 
included), as calculated by the CA upon public ation of the contract in the PPB. CAs have the 
possibility and the discretion to apply a tender security of 2% of the estimated contract value only 
for international contracts.  
3.136.  The PPL and its regulations mandate the establishment of minimum and maximum 
monetary thresholds for procurement purposes; thes e thresholds are reviewed every two years. In 
2015, the maximum thresholds were: lek 1.2 billion for public works contracts; and lek 200 million for public contracts for goods and services. The minimum thresholds were: lek 12 million for public 
works contracts; and lek 8 million for public contracts for goods and services. Since 2014, a 
primary threshold for the use of the small value procedure has been set at lek 800,000 (instead of lek 400,000 previously).
90 Tenders over the primary threshold are evaluated in each CA by an 
Evaluation Commission consisting of at least three members, all with voting rights. CAs evaluate 
tenderers, based on the fulfilment of a number of qualification criteria, including professional 
qualification, and technical, financial, and legal capabilities. 
3.137.  The PPL and its regulations specify the following types of procurement procedures: open; 
restricted; negotiated (with or without publication of contract notice); request for proposals; small 
value purchase; consultancy services; and design  contest. The Law specifies that the open 
procedure should be the preferred procedure for every CA. This procedure allows any economic 
operator to submit a tender; the CA prepares a contract notice and tender documents and sends a 
notice to the PPA to be published in the electr onic procurement system (EPS) and PPB. Suppliers 
submit offers, and the CA's Evaluation Commission evaluates the tender, selects the winner, and sends a notice to the EPS. The CA then conclude s the contract and sends the award notice and the 
signed contract to the EPS.
91  
3.138.  The contract notice, contract award, and contract conclusion notices must be published for 
public procurement contracts using the open, restri cted or negotiated procedure with publication, 
the design contest, the consultancy service, and re quest for proposals. All notices by a CA must be 
published in the Bulletin for Public Notices of Alba nia. When the notice is published by the PPA, it 
must be placed on the EPS. Notices for contracts above the minimum threshold must also be 
published in the PPB, and notices for contracts above the maximum value threshold must also be 
published in at least one newspaper of European distribution.  
3.139.  Time limits for interested bidders to submit their offers vary according to the modality, and 
the complexity of the contract. As a general rule, the time limits for an open procedure are: not 
less than 52 days from the date the procuremen t notice is published, for tenders above the 
maximum threshold; and 30 days for tenders wi th a value between the minimum and maximum 
threshold (for open procedures performed by el ectronic means the time limits are reduced to 
seven days). For negotiated and restricted procedures that include a published notice the 
minimum time limit for submission  of requests for participation is 20 days from the date the 
procurement notice is published, for tenders above the maximum threshold, and 15 days for 
tenders between the minimum and maximum thresholds (for restricted and negotiated procedures 
with prior publication performed by electronic mean s the time limits are reduced to five days). For 
                                               
90 DCM No. 914/2014 of 29 December 2014. 
91 See WTO (2010) for circumstances where either a restricted procedure, a negotiated procedure, the 
small value procurement procedure, the consultancy services, or the design contest is employed. The 
procedures request for proposal can be employed for procedures of a value under the minimum threshold lek 
8 million for services and supplies contracts and lek 12 million for works contracts); where the small value 
purchase is employed, the threshold is lek 800,000. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  the request for proposals the time limit is ten days from the date the procurement notice is 
published. The notice of award is given immedi ately to the tenderer who submitted the best 
tender. Within ten days of the award notice to th e successful tenderer, the CA must send a notice 
to the PPA for publication in the PPB and on th e PPA website. The CA and the awarded tenderer 
must sign the contract within 60 days of publication in the PPB (compared with 30 days before 
2014). Within ten days of concluding the contract , the CA must send the PPA a notice that the 
contract has been signed; this is published in the PPB and the EPS.  
3.140.  Joint procurement may be undertaken when more than one CA intends to procure the 
same goods, services or works. In such case, one of the CAs may be appointed to perform the procurement or a joint Central Purchasing Body (CPB) may be established to perform all necessary procedures. Albanian legislation contains provisions for the evaluation and rejection of abnormally 
low tenders. The law also provides for sub-contracting, which should be specified in each contract 
and not exceed 40% of the contract value. 
3.141.  Under the PPL, electronic procurement (e-procurement) has been in use. All the public 
procurement procedures carried out in 2014 were performed electronically, except for negotiated 
procedures without publication, which amounted to 31.2% of the total number of the procurement procedures finalized with a winner in the year. In accordance with DCM No. 918 of 
29 December 2014, the use of e-procurement is mandatory for all CAs except for the negotiated 
procedures without publication.
92 As a result, offers and requests for participation in a 
procurement process are now sent and received el ectronically, and evaluation is also performed 
online.  
3.142.  A total of 5,288 procurement procedures were published in 2014: 1,377 open procedures 
for construction, good, and services; 6 restricted procedures; 3,789 requests for proposal; 116 consultancy services and design contests. In the same year, there were no negotiations with prior 
publication of the contract notice. The total value of procurement in 2014 was lek 60 billion. Open 
procedures accounted for lek 50 billion, or 84% of the total; requests for proposal lek 8 billion, or 13%; and restricted procedures and consultancy services together accounted for the remaining 
3%.   
3.143.  Albanian law foresees procedures for remedies and enforcement. Enforcement can be 
sought before the CA, PPC (since 2010), and the Administrative Court, which follow the 
administrative enforcement procedures. Once these procedures are exhausted, court actions may 
be initiated. Objections to a procurement decision must be filed in writing with the CA within seven 
working days of the day the complainant should ha ve become aware of the alleged breach of the 
PPL. Under new procedures adopted in 2012, if the CA fails to take a decision within seven days of 
receipt of the objection, the complainant is entitled  to file a written appeal with the PPC within 10 
days from the next working day of the deadline or in case of a rejection within 10 working days from the day of receiving notice of the decision. Upon receiving the complainant's written appeal, 
the PPC must respond within 7 days, or 10 days if it requires further information from the CA. 
After completing the administrative enforcement pr ocedures, the complainant is entitled to file 
actions with the first instance administrative court. The administrative court must begin the judicial examination within 7 days of the filing date. A complainant who suffered loss or damage as 
a result of a breach of the PPL may claim damages in court.  
3.144.  The PPC received 1,008 complaints with respect to procurement procedures in 2015 (by 
19 November 2015), 833 in 2014, 548 in 2013, 573 in 2012, 481 in 2011, and 191 in 2010. Of the 
1,008 complaints in 2015, 481 were rejected, 491 were accepted by the PPC and 36 are still in 
process. In 2015, 39 cases were submitted to the Administrative Court (66 cases in 2014). 
3.3.6  Intellectual property rights 
3.3.6.1  Overview 
3.145.  The General Directorate of Patents and Trademarks (GDPT), a public institution under the 
Ministry of Economic Development, Tourism, Trade and Entrepreneurship, is the only institution 
                                               
92 Since 1 January 2009, the use of e-procurement had been mandatory for all CAs except for the 
negotiated procedures without publication of notice an d for small value purchase pr ocurement, in accordance 
with Council of Ministers Decision No. 45 of 21 January 2009. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  through which the Albanian State gives the right of ownership of patents for inventions and utility 
models, topographies of semiconductors, trademar ks and service marks, industrial designs and 
geographical indications. The GDPT aims to strength en the protection of industrial property within 
the Albanian territory through the recognition and/or registration of such rights, to guarantee a 
level of protection equivalent to that of European countries. The Albanian Copyright Office (ACO), 
answerable to the Ministry of Culture, is responsible for copyright issues.93  
3.146.  Since 1 May 2010, Albania has been a member of the European Patent Organization (EPO). 
In the field of industrial property, Albania is a signatory to a number of international agreements 
including the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (1983). The GDPT represents Albania in 
the EPO and WIPO and has started negotiations to jo in the Office for Harmonization of the Internal 
Market (OHIM), which registers marks and industrial designs.  
3.147.  Under the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA), Albania is committed to taking 
all necessary measures in order to guarantee that, no later than four years after the date of entry 
into force of the Agreement it will provide a level of protection for intellectual, industrial, and 
commercial property rights similar to that existing in the EU, including the effective means of enforcing such rights. According to the authorities, the GDPT has realized all the objectives 
deriving from the SAA (Article 73) and from th e National Strategy for the Enforcement of 
Intellectual Property Rights 2010-2015 (NSIIPR) for 2010-15, issued in 2010.
94 The purpose of the 
NSIIPR has been to provide an equal level of protecti on of intellectual property rights with the EU 
countries. With a view, inter alia , to complying with Article 73 of the SAA to ensure approximation 
of the legal framework with that of EU countries, a draft new law on copyright and related rights 
was adopted by the Council of Ministers on  22 September 2015 and has been sent to the 
parliamentary committees. The authorities state that the new law is expected to significantly 
improve the situation and the reality of copyright an d related rights in Albania; they consider that 
in response to the level of economic development and trade, and in the spirit of EU integration process, it is necessary to undertake necessary and effective measures to improve Albania's 
system of copyright and related rights protec tion, which over the years has faced numerous 
challenges.  
3.148.  The NSIIPR foresees a monitoring system wi th a ministerial group chaired by the minister 
of economy and representatives of other state institutions. The authorities consider that Albania's 
IP system is in full compliance with: (1) the acquis communautaire through the law on copyright 
and other related rights; and (2) the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement through the criminal code. 
3.149.  The authorities state that administrative reforms have been proposed such as: (1) 
increasing the number of working staff from the existing 13 members to 20 members; (2) 
increasing the number of staff with a legal background; (3) increasing the outreach of the ACO to cover the entire territory of Albania. They also intend to increase administrative capacity through 
training, establish regional copyright offices, increase the number of inspectors, and launch 
awareness campaigns.  
3.150.  Currently, the authorities are setting up institutional working groups to prepare a New 
National Strategy for the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights. 
                                               
93 DCM No. 232 of 19 April 2006 and DCM No. 343 of 6 June 2007 defined the legal functions of the 
ACO, which include: examining and certifying applicatio ns for registration of co pyright/related rights and 
contracts for transfer of economic rights; keeping the electr onic Copyright Register ; certifying contracts 
between parties subject to the law, and examining complaints on copyright infringement and issuing 
administrative decisions; participating in civil/penal pr ocesses; and proposing improv ements to copyright law.  
The ACO also offers specialized servic es on demand, for which it charges. 
94 With DCM No. 760 of 1 September 2010, the Council of Ministers approved the "National Strategy for 
the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights". WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  Table 3.8 Conventions and treaties on intellect ual property rights to which Albania is a 
party, December 2015 
Convention Entry into force 
for Albania Entry 
into force for 
Albania 
Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization  30 June 1992 
Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works 6 March 1994 
Paris Convention for the Protection of  Industrial Property 4 October 1995 
Patent Cooperation Treaty 4 October 1995 
International Rome Convention for the Protecti on of Performers, Producers of Phonograms 
and Broadcasting Organizations 1 September 2000 
Convention for the Protection of the Prod ucers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized 
Duplication of Their Phonograms 26 June 2001 
WIPO Performers and Phonograms Treaty 20 May 2002 
WIPO Copyright Treaty 22 November 2001 
Agreement between the Republic of Albania and the European Patent Organization on 
Cooperation in the Field of Patents 1 February 1996 
Universal Copyright Paris Convention and two additional protocols  4 November 2003 
Budapest Treaty on International Protection of Micro-organisms for Patent Purposes 19 September 2003 
Nice Convention related to Internationa l Classification of Goods and Services 19 September 2003 
Madrid Agreement concerning the International Registration of Marks 4 October 1995 
Protocol relating to the Madrid Agreement concerning the International Registration of 
Marks 30 July 2003 
International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants 12 May 2005 
The Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs of 
6 November 1925 as revised at the Hague on 28 November 1960 
Geneva Act Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs 19 March 2007 
 
19 May 2007 
Strasbourg Agreement Concerning the Internatio nal Patent Classification, 1979 15 May 2006 
United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods 1 June 2010 
International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture  10 August 2010 
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities  13 March 2013 
Nagoya Protocol on Access to  Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of 
Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity 12 October 2014 
European Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production  1 October 2010 
Patent Law Treaty (PLT) 
European Patent Convention (EPC 2000) 17 May 2010 
1 May 2010 
London Agreement – The Agreement on the application of Article 65 EPC 1 November 2013 
TRIPS Agreement  22 December 1995 
Source: WIPO; WTO documents IP/N/1/ALB/2, 23 Fe bruary 2005, and IP/N/1/ALB/3, 4 April 2008; and 
information provided by the Albanian authorities. 
3.3.6.2  Legal and institutional framework 
3.151.  Albania has legislation on industrial proper ty (trademarks, patents, industrial designs, and 
geographical indications), as well as on copyright, protection of plant varieties, and layout-designs 
of integrated circuits. Some of the Albanian legislation has been notified to the WTO since 2002, 
although it would appear that laws recently adopted are yet to be notified (Table 3.9).  
3.3.6.2.1  Industrial property 3.152.  Law No. 9947 of 7 July 2008, as amended, covers the protection of patents, industrial 
designs, trademarks and service marks, and geog raphical indications. Amendments to the Law 
No. 9947 were adopted through Law No. 10/2013 of 1 March 2013 and Law No. 55/2014.
95 Other 
relevant laws include: Law No. 8488 of 13 May 1999 "On Protection of the Topography of 
Integrated Circuits" as amended by Law No. 66/2014 of 24 July 2014.96 
3.153.  Regulations to implement the law are contained in: DCM No. 1707 of 29 December 2008 
"On the approval of the regulation concerning the grant of patents for inventions and utility 
models" as amended by DCM No. 618 of 07 Se ptember 2011; DCM No. 1,706 of 29 December 
2008 "On the approval of the regulation concerning  the registration of trademarks of goods and 
services"; DCM No. 1705 of 29 December 2009 "On th e approval of the regulation concerning the 
                                               
95 With these amendments, the authorities maintain that the Law No. 9947 is fully approximated with 
the following EU legislation: Directives 9/44/EC, 98/71/EC, 2008/98/EC, and 2004/48/EC. 
96 The authorities maintain that these laws are fully approximated with Council Directive 87/54/EEC of 
16 December 1986 on the legal protection of topographies of semiconductor products. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  registration of geographical indications"; DC M No. 381 of 8 April 2009 "On the approval of the 
regulation concerning the registration of indust rial designs"; and DCM No. 883 of 13 May 2009 "On 
the approval of fees concerning industrial pr operty objects" as amended by DCM No. 433 of 
16 June 2011. 
3.154.  The authorities state that laws and regula tions regarding industrial designs, trademarks, 
geographical indications, topographies of integr ated circuits, and trade secrets have been fully 
approximated with EU legislation.97  
Table 3.9 Overview of IPR protection, 2015 
Coverage Duration Exclusions and limitations 
Patents 
Industrial Property Law No. 9947 of 7 July 2008, as amended 
Any invention that is 
new and involves an inventive step, that is capable of industrial application 20 years from 
the date of filing 1. Inventions, the commercial exploitation of which would be 
contrary to public order, morality or public health and human life; the exploitation of an invention is not considered to be contrary to public order or morality only because it is prohibited by law or bylaw, unless it violates a prescriptive norm. On this basis, the following, in particular, shall be considered unpatentable: (a) 
processes for cloning human bein gs; (b) processes for modifying 
the germ line genetic identity of human beings; (c) uses of human embryos for industrial or commercial purposes; (d) processes for modifying the genetic identity of animals which are likely to cause them suffering without any substantial medical benefit to man or animal, and also animals resulting from such processes.  2. Plant or animal varieties or essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals, without prejudice to the patentability of inventions which concern a microbiological or other technical process or a product obtained by means of such a process;  3. The human body, at the various stages of its formation and 
development, and the simple discovery of one of its elements, 
including the sequence or partial sequence of a gene.  4. Methods for treatment of the human body or animal body by surgery or therapy and diagnostic methods practiced on the human or animal body; this provision shall not apply to products, in particular substances or compositions, for use in any of these methods.  5. Substances obtained through internal nuclear transformations for military purposes. 
Industrial designs  
Industrial Property Law No. 9947 of 7 July 2008, as amended  
New ornamental form of 
an object or new 
ornamental arrangement 
of lines or colours whose 
visual configuration can 
be used in manufacture 25 years from 
date of filing May not be registered when:  
(a) does not comply with the requirements of Article 112 of the 
Industrial Property Law; (b) is not new and has individual 
character; (c) is determined essentially by technical or functional 
considerations; (d) conflicts with morality or public order; (e) 
represents an abstract scheme or a technical plan; (f) contains a 
flag or national emblem 
Utility models  
Industrial Property Law No. 9947 of 7 July 2008, as amended 
New invention in a new 
shape or arrangement, capable of industrial application 10 years from 
date of filing With the exception of processes, animal and plant varieties, the 
following inventions can be protected by a utility model: a) inventions which are patentable according to this Law; b) inventions which are new, susceptible of industrial application 
and are the result of a creative effort. 
Trademarks for goods and services  
Industrial Property Law No. 9947 of 7 July 2008, as amended 
Visually perceptible sign 
that distinguishes or 
certifies a good or 10 years, 
renewable for 
equal successive A sign is not registered as a trademark if: (a) there is no 
distinctive character; (b) it consists exclusively of elements or 
indicators to show the type, quality, quantity, purpose, value, 
                                               
97 More specifically with the following document s: the European Patent Convention (EPC 2000);  
Directive 98/44/EC (biotechnological inventions);  Directive 98/71/EC (protection of designs);  Directive 89/104/EEC (trademarks);  Directive 2004/48/EC (protection of industrial property rights);  Regulation (EEC) 
1768/92 (protection of medicinal products);  Regulation (EC) 1610/96 (plant protection products);  Regulation 
(EC) 6/2002 (Community Registration designs);  Regulati on (EC) 40/94 (Community Registration trademarks);  
Regulation (EC) 2081/92 (protection of geographical indications). WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  Coverage Duration Exclusions and limitations 
service periods geographical origin or time of pr oduction of goods or performing 
services, or to show other characteristics of goods or services; 
(c) it consists exclusively of elements or indicators that have 
become common in everyday language or have returned to 
commercial practices; (d) it is composed of shapes or lines, 
imposed by the nature of the goods or services and/or shapes or 
lines essential to meet a technical result; (e) it consists of forms 
that give a value to essential goods; (f) it consists of elements 
that harm the public interest or contravene public order or moral 
values; (g) it consists of elements that tend to mislead the public; 
(h) it consists of geographical indications for wines or alcoholic 
beverages that do not originate from the place indicated by the 
geographical indication in question, even if the true origin of the 
products has been indicated or the geographical indications have 
been translated and are accompanied by such expressions as 
"kind", "type", "style", "imitation" or other similar ones (Articles 
142 and 143 of the Law No. 9947, as amended), (i) it consists of 
names, portraits, personal nicknames, well known in Albania, 
whose use has not been given authorization by the person himself 
or his successor; (j) it consists of names of States (full or 
abbreviated); the state emblems, medals, honorary orders; the 
seal and official signs approved by the country; arms of 
internationally recognized organizations or their abbreviations; 
religious symbols; national flags; or (k) it consists of elements 
inconsistent with Article 6ter of the Paris Convention 
Geographical indications  
Industrial Property Law No. 9947 of 7 July 2008, as amended  
Name of a country or 
region used to designate a service or good whose characteristics or reputation are derived from the country or region Every 5 years 
from the filing date Use of the geographical indication is restricted to goods or service 
providers from the locality. Article 176 specifies the details of geographical indication protected under the law. Article 178 stipulates rights gained through registration.   
Copyrights and related rights 
Law No. 9380 of 28 April 2005 (copyright and related rights), and related provisions including Council of Ministers Decision (DCM) No. 232 of 19 April 2006 (creation and working of Albanian Copyright Office), and DCM No. 343 of 6 June 2007 (adaption of the tariffs of services that are offered by the Albanian Copyright Office); Law No. 97 of 4 March 2013 (audiovisual media).  
Text of literary, scientific 
or artistic works; 
musical compositions, 
audiovisual works, 
drawings, paintings, 
photographic works. No 
registration necessary Life of the 
author or 
creator plus 70 
years as the 
general term of 
protection; term 
varies according 
to the type or 
nature of the 
work No authorization required where the name of the author is cited, or 
for reproductions used for educational purposes, among others. In 
the case of computer programs, acts related to backup copy, 
partial quotes for teaching purposes , similarity with a pre-existing 
program, and integration with an application or operational system 
technically indispensable for user needs, subject to certain 
conditions 
New plant varieties  
Law No. 8880 of 15 April 2002 "On Plant Breeders' Rights", Law No. 9395 of 12 May 2005, "On the Accession of the 
Republic of Albania to the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of  Plants", Council of Minister 
Decision No. 72 of 15 February 2001 "On the approval of the regulation of plant protection products", and Law 
No. 9947 of 7 July 2008 On Industrial Property 
New plant varieties and 
derived plant varieties of any genus or species. Guarantees the property right to any natural or legal person obtaining a new plant variety or essentially derived variety 20 + 5 years 
from the filing date  May be subject to compulsory licences  
Layout designs of integrated circuits  
Law No. 8488 of 13 May 1999 "On the Protection of Topographies of Integrated Circuits", as amended by Law 
No. 9957 of 17 July 2008  
Protection of layout of 
integrated circuits 10 years from 
application No protection for concepts, processes, systems or techniques on 
which the layout is based or of any information stored  WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  Coverage Duration Exclusions and limitations 
Undisclosed information  
Law No. 9121 of 23 July 2003 (protection of competition), as amended by Law No. 9499 of 3 April 2006; Regulation 
of the Commission on Verification of Manufacturing Conditions of Pharmaceuticals No. 2976 of 14 July 1998; 
Regulation No. 4 of 30 December 1999 (registration of veterinary drugs) 
Protects against unfair 
commercial use of information and data presented to the authorities for commercial approval Up to 2 years 
after the employment or confidential relationship is terminated May be subject to compulsory licences 
Law No. 9121 deals with 
undisclosed information 
in general; Regulation 
No. 2976 deals with 
undisclosed information 
related to 
pharmaceutical 
products; Regulation 
No. 4 of 30 December 
1999 deals with drugs 
for veterinary use   
Source: WIPO Lex database, an d information provided by the Albanian authorities. 
3.155.  Law No. 9947/2008, as amended, clarifies th e conditions for the protection of industrial 
property rights, as well as the procedures for patent and other industrial property investigation, 
examination, and approval. It also contains more  detailed provisions on registration, opposition 
procedures in each case, infringement of rights and enforcement. The law also gives the judicial 
system and other relevant institutions the possibility of increasing their role in the protection of 
these rights.  
3.156.  The right to a patent belongs to the inventor or his/her legal representative; joint 
applicants have equal rights, unless they agree otherwise. If two or more applications are filed for 
the same invention by different persons, priority is given to the application that holds the earliest 
date of filing. Priority right is given to parties to the Paris Convention, or WTO Members for filings 
done under their national legislation. Patents are granted by the GDPT. To be patentable, an 
invention must constitute an innovation, contain an  inventive step, be non-obvious, be applicable 
in industry, and adequately described for its use (Table 3.9). Patents are granted for 20 years from the filing date subject to payment of renewal fees ; utility models are granted for 10 years from the 
filing date, subject to payment of renewal fees. Supplementary protection certificates for medicinal 
products and plant protection products are granted for five years from the filing date, subject to payment of renewal fees. 
3.157.  The GDPT is required to publish all patent applications 18 months from the date of deposit 
or, where priority has been requested, from th e date of priority. However, if the applicant 
requests, in writing, that the application be published before the 18-month deadline, the GDPT 
must publish it in its next newsletter. The publication of a patent application gives the applicant, 
temporarily, the same rights as those granted by th e patent itself. The GDPT keeps the register of 
patents, which is open for inspection by the public. Patents considered "state secret" follow rules issued by the Minister of Defence. In this case  the patent applicant must allow the Ministry of 
Defence use of the invention subject to compensa tion. The authorities indicated that there have 
been no applications for such patents.  
3.158.  Objections to the granting of a patent may be filed within nine months of the date of 
publication. The owner of the patent has the right to present his/her arguments within three 
months of receipt of the notification. Following hearings or the presentation of written statements 
and an investigation, the GDPT Board of Appeal ta kes the decision to invalidate the patent or to 
reject the opposition demand.  
3.159.  Under certain conditions, the Law allows courts to grant compulsory licences to any person 
who proves himself capable of exploiting the invent ion subject of a patent granted in Albania. The 
conditions include that the patent has not been worked within four years of its filing or three years 
of issuance, and that the licence applicant has tried unsuccessfully to obtain a voluntary licence WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  from the patent holder. Patent holders are compensated in the case of compulsory licences; if the 
parties do not agree, the compensation is determin ed in court. In cases of national security or 
major interest, the Ministers of Defence and of Health may authorize an agency, a state institution or a person designated to make, use or sell the invention product of a patent, even without the 
consent of the patent owner, against payment of fair compensation. No compulsory licences were 
issued during the period under review.  
3.160.  The authorities state that there are no lega l provisions in industrial property law on the 
issue of parallel imports. Albania applies a nati onal system of exhaustion of trademark rights, 
unless a bilateral or multilateral agreement provides otherwise: in these cases an international system of exhaustion of rights will be applied only to the countries defined in the agreements. 
3.161.  There were 499 patent applications for 2015 (up to 3 December 2015), of which 481 were 
extensions and validations of patents issued by th e European Patent Office (EPO), 16 were national 
applications, and 2 were under the PCT; 441 patents were granted, 3 were refused, 141 applications lapsed and 134 are in process.
98 During 2010-15 (up to 3 December 2015), 75 
applications for industrial designs were received and 64 registrations issued. During the same 
period, 3,869 applications for trademarks were received and 3,649 registrations issued.  
3.3.6.2.2  Copyright 
3.162.  Copyright is governed by Law No. 9380 of 28 April 2005 (copyright and related rights), as 
amended, and related provisions including DCM No. 232 of 19 April 2006 (creation of the Albanian Copyright Office), and DCM No. 343 of 6 June 2007 (a doption of the tariffs for services offered by 
the Albanian Copyright Office). Law No. 9380 was amended by Law 78/2013 of 14 February 2013 
"On some amendments to Law 9380", which is associated with the adoption of Law No. 10433 of 
16 June 2011 "On inspection of the Republic of Albania". The amendment of  the law on copyright 
provides for a structure to monitor the market including inspection on the use of intellectual 
product. The amendment was published in the Official Gazette No. 31 of 12 March 2013. With the 
amendment, the Market Inspectorate is to be established to monitor the intellectual property market, with the approval of the respective DCM. The authorities state that the law on copyright is 
partially approximated with the acquis communautaire  of the EU.  
3.163.  As at end-2015, the authorities were attemp ting to finalize the drafting of a new law on 
copyright and related rights, to comply with Albania's commitments under the SAA. The new law 
would transpose a number of EC Directives and ensu re better protection of copyright and related 
rights.
99 It would introduce provisions aimed at: (1) ensuring better protection of copyright and 
other related rights; (2) strengthening and intensifying control, monitoring, and enforcement activities; (3) improving administrative and legal procedures; (4) widening the coverage of cases 
that constitute administrative or penal offences, infringements or penal acts; and (5) increasing 
the values and scope of punitive sanctions. 
3.164.  The current Copyright Law provides for the pr otection of literary, artistic, public and other 
works including any original intellectual creation of this nature, and computer programs.
100 
Protection does not depend on the manner and form of expression, or on the quality or the aim of the work; it is not extended to ideas, procedures , processes, systems, ways of action, concepts, 
expressed principles or discoveries. In accordance with the law, the economic rights of the author 
include the exclusive right of authorizing: the reproduction of the work; its importation, with the 
purpose of distribution (selling, leasing, rentin g, loaning) to the public; its translation; the 
preparation of adaptations or alterations, and communication to the public.  
3.165.  The terms of protection under the Copyright Law are as follows: copyright: the lifetime of 
the author plus 70 years after his death; works of applied art (moral and economic rights): 25 
years from their making; rights of performers: 50 ye ars, starting from the end of the year in which 
                                               
98 In 2010, there were 341 patent applications, of which 338 were extensions and validations of patents 
issued by the European Patent Office (EPO), 2 were  national applications, and 1 were under the PCT; 340 
patents were granted, 12 were refused, and 201 applications lapsed.  
99 Namely, Directive 93/83/EEC; Directive 96/9/EC; Directive 2004/48/EC; Directive 2001/29/EC; 
Directive 2001/84/EC; Directive 2006/115/EC; Directive 2006/116/EC; Directive 2009/24/EC; and Directive 
2014/26/EU. 
100 See WTO (2010) for the details of protecti on of these intellectual property rights. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  the performance took place; rights of producers of  phonograms: 50 years, starting from the end of 
the year in which the phonogram was produced for the first time; rights of broadcasting organizations: 50 years, starting from the end of the year in which the broadcasting took place. 
Moral rights are protected permanently.  
3.166.  Agencies of Collective Management of copyright and related rights require a licence from 
the Minister of Culture, upon recommendation fr om the ACO. An agency must be established per 
category of work or branch of art. Currently, four collective management agencies are licensed to 
operate in Albania.
101 Agencies may determine their own charges. 
3.167.  Between 2010 and 2015, the ACO received 412 requests for copyright registration by 
authors or their legal successors.  
3.3.6.3  Enforcement 
3.168.  Legislation with respect to enforcement is contained in the Penal Code and its 
amendments, Penal Procedure Code, the Civil Code , the Civil Procedure Code and its amendments, 
and customs legislation (the Customs Code Law No. 8449 of 27 January 1999 and DCM No. 205, 
13 April 1999, as amended), unchanged since Albania's previous review. The authorities maintain 
that the General Directorate of Customs aims to provide a level of protection and enforcement of 
IPRs similar to that of the EU, and the GDC's lega l basis for the IPR protection and enforcement is 
being aligned (harmonized) with Regulation (EU) No. 608/2013 of the European Parliament and of 
the Council of 12 June 2013, concerning customs en forcement of intellectual property rights and 
repealing Council Regulation (EC) No. 1383/2003. In  accordance with this legal framework, rights 
infringement may be brought to the courts, which are authorized to impose fines of between lek 
100,000 and lek 500,000 for patent, mark or design infringement, established as administrative 
fines. The Code of Civil Procedures authorizes judges to order the payment of monetary damages adequate to compensate the injury.   
3.169.  Under the Penal Code, as amended, the unlawful production and distribution on a 
commercial scale of industrial goods and food constitutes a criminal infringement punishable with fine or imprisonment for up to two years. When committed in collaboration with other persons, 
more than once, or when it has caused serious co nsequences, it is punishable with imprisonment 
from three to ten years. The translation, adaptati on, sound or visual recording, reproduction, or 
transmission of an artistic work without the authorization of its author, when the author's moral and economic rights have been infringed, constitutes a criminal act penalized by fine or 
imprisonment of up to one year. Under the Penal Code, fines and imprisonment of up to four years 
may be applied for fraudulent misappropriation of property or copyright infringement. 
3.170.  The holder of a trademark or patent ma y, under the Customs Code, request the customs 
authorities to prohibit the release for circulation, or the exportation or re-exportation of 
counterfeited or pirated goods. The Law on Competition authorizes courts to impose fines of between lek 10,000 and lek 200,000 to persons or companies who do not respect business 
secrets. 
3.171.  During 2010-15, the GDPT was called to take part in 137 judicial cases for violations of 
industrial property rights, either as a defendant or  as a third party. The Board of Appeal, as a part 
of GDPT, took decisions on 165 cases during 2010-15. 
3.172.  During the period under review, the Alba nian Copyright Office undersigned memoranda of 
understanding with other Albanian authorities (e.g. tax offices, customs directory, authority of audiovisual media, competition authority) that are in charge and directly have obligations to 
enforce the IPR in Albania. The authorities consider  that this has improved cooperation with these 
bodies and improved the situation of IPR enforcem ent in Albania. The ACO also makes efforts to 
cooperate with the Ministry of Education and the Institute of Education Development to introduce 
the concepts of copyright and intellectual property rights in general into the school curricula of the 
                                               
101 These include:  the Agency of Collective Manageme nt of Copyright "ALBAUTOR", in the field of music 
and its mechanical registrations;  th e Agency of Collective Management of  Copyright "FMAA", for the protection 
of rights of directors and screen-writers of Albanian  cinematography and audiovisual works; the Agency of 
Collective Management of Related Rights "AKDIE", fo r the protection of performers and executers; and the 
Agency of Collective Management of Related Ri ghts "AMP", for phonogram producers' rights.  WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  pre-university education system, and to raise awareness among the different categories of IPR 
users to inform them of the benefits of IPRs and obligations they have under the copyright law. The ACO cooperates with the General Directory of Police (Department of Economic Crime) for monitoring the market for IP infringements.  
3.173.  The implementation of copyright law is verified by ACO inspectors who, under the 
Memorandum of Understanding with the General Directorate of Taxation, collaborate with tax inspectors on an ad hoc basis. They conduct, for example, unannounced inspections in businesses, 
which may result in confiscation of infringing matter and in fines, collected by the relevant regional 
tax office, and added to the state budget. A fine ma y be appealed within ten days before the ACO, 
which is obliged to issue a decision within ten days. ACO decisions may be appealed before the courts. The authorities state that, in most cases, the appeals are rejected and the fines applied, 
but that the record for collecting the fines has not been good.  
3.174.  Between January 2010 and December 2015, the ACO received 262 complaints with respect 
to breaches of copyright by right-holders. As at January 2015, administra tive proceedings for 238 
of these cases had been completed. The authoritie s note that in most of the completed cases the 
ACO ruled in favour of the right-holders. In 2010- 15, the First Instance Court of Tirana issued 88 
verdicts related to copyright disputes; there are 13 judicial cases under proceedings in this court 
as well as 5 cases before the Appeal Court of  Tirana and 5 cases before the High Court. 
3.175.  Fines may be appealed within 30 days to the ACO, which must issue a decision within 30 
days. ACO decisions may be appealed to the courts. The authorities state that in most cases, appeals are rejected and the fines are applied; nonetheless, the record for collecting the fines has 
improved as a result of the appeals.  
3.176.  Between January 2010 and December 2015, 733 administrative measures were applied to 
copyright infringement and about 13,200 pirated items of merchandise (e.g. CDs, DVDs) were 
confiscated.  
3.177.  During the period under review, the number of inspectors in the ACO increased by 5 
persons, to 8 inspectors, indicating one inspector per each of the largest districts of Albania. The 
authorities expect that with the establishment of the Central Inspectorate, the inspection part of 
the ACO will be transferred to the Inspectorate. Th e authorities expect that with the amendment to 
the copyright legislation that is expected to ta ke place in 2016, the coordination between the ACO 
and the judiciary will improve for better implementation of the copyright law.  WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  4  TRADE POLICIES BY SECTOR 
4.1  Agriculture 4.1.1  General features 
4.1.  Agriculture continues to be an important economic activity for Albania. In 2014, around 48% 
of the population were employed in farms. The ag riculture sector (including forestry and fishing) 
accounted for about 22.6% of GDP in 2014. Most farming is subsistence. Livestock (mainly cattle, 
sheep and goats) accounted for 50.5% of total agricultural production (around lek 94.1 billion), 
field crops 30.7% (lek 57.1 billion), and orchards 18.8% (lek 35.1 billion) in 2013.
1 About 98% of 
the total agricultural holdings in Albania are family farms.2 Between 2007 and 2012, the average 
farm size increased from 1.14 ha to 1.20 ha.3 
4.2.  Albania is a net importer of food. Agri-food imports totalled around US$ 1,025 million in 
2014, representing 19.6% of total merchandise impo rts; in the same year the value of exports 
was around US$ 105 million, or 4.3% of the total (Tables A1.1 and A1.2). Serbia and Italy are the 
principal destinations for Albania's exports (Table 4.1). 
Table 4.1 Exports of agricultural products (WTO definition) by main trading partners, 
2014 
Product descriptiona Value of 
imports  
(US$ million) Main trading partners 
Principal Second Third 
Total agriculture 67.9 Serbia (23.2%)  Italy (21.2%)  Germany (11.0%) 
Oil seeds and oleaginous 
fruits; miscellaneous 
grains, seeds and fruit; 
industrial or medicinal 
plants; straw and fodder 20.4 Germany (36.7%)  US (30.3%)  Italy (8.3%) 
Edible vegetables and 
certain roots and tubers 18.2 Serbia (46.1%)  Bulgaria (16.3%)  Montenegro (15.8%)  
Edible fruit and nuts; 
peel of citrus fruit or 
melons 13.8 Italy (52.7%)  Serbia (30.4%)  Russian Federation (8.6%)  
Raw hides and skins 
(other than furskins) and 
leather 6.2 Italy (82.7%)  Bosnia Herzegovina 
(17.3%)  
Preparations of 
vegetables, fruit, nuts or 
other parts of plants 5.2 Greece (99.4%)  Serbia (0.6%)    
a Data are presented at the 2-digit HS level.  
Note: WTO definition of agriculture: HS Chapters 01-24 (e xcluding fish and fishery products (HS Chapter 3, 0508, 
0511.91, 1504.10, 1504.20, 1603-1605 and 2301.20)) plus some selected products (HS 2905.43, 2905.44, 2905.45, 3301, 3501-3505, 3809.10, 3823, 3824.60, 4101-4103, 4301, 5001-5003, 5105-5103, 5201-5203, 5301, and 5302). 
 
Source: UN Comtrade. 
4.3.  The main challenges facing agriculture in Al bania include farm land consolidation, developing 
infrastructure (transport, water, and electricity; improving market orientation and participation; 
diversifying farm production; meeting EU product and food safety standards; and enhancing 
competitiveness by the introduction of improved farm machinery), and promotion of agricultural cooperatives. 
4.4.  Government policies to date have been fo cused mainly on rehabilitating infrastructure, 
particularly irrigation and drainage, road infrastructure, market infrastructure and laboratories, and assisting farmers through education, training, extension services, the transfer of knowledge, 
new practices and technologies, and moving towards integration into the agricultural policies of the 
                                               
1 The total agriculture production amounted to around lek 186.3 billion in 2013. 
2 EU Albania Progress Report (2014) 
3 Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Water Management (MARDWA) (2014), Inter-sectoral 
Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Deve lopment in Albania – Final Version. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  EU. The agriculture sector is eligible for funds from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural 
Development (EAFRD), and the EU Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance in Rural Development 
Programme (IPARD). The authorities state that te chnical and financial aid from external donors 
under the IPARD played an important role in  supporting the sustainable development of 
agriculture. 
4.1.2  Legal and policy making framework 4.5.  The Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Water Administration (MARDWA), 
established in 2013
4, is responsible for policy development and implementation in the agriculture 
sector, including agriculture, food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policies, and fisheries. The authorities state that, based on Chapter II of th e SAA and on the WTO Agreement on Agriculture, 
Albania has certain state aid obligations in agriculture, as provided for in the text of the 
agreements, for example an allowable subsidy must be not more than 5% of GDP of the sector for 
the same year. The MARDWA is also responsible for: developing draft legislation approximating EU ones; providing education and training; undertaking analytical and development studies; providing 
public service activities, such as irrigation and drainage, and extension services; agricultural 
research and laboratory control; analysis of agricultural policies; and marketing services. The IPARD Paying Agency under the MARDWA is charged with implementing agricultural policy 
measures, including the administration of funds from the State and international donors, as well as 
analysis and evaluation-related work. The Direct orate of Programming and Evaluation of Rural 
Policies, which is responsible for developing the policies and programmes for the use of rural development funds, was established in the MARDWA in 2013. 
4.6.  The main laws governing the sector are Law No. 9817 of 22 October 2007 "On agriculture 
and rural development" and Law No. 37/2015 of 9 April 2015 "On ratification of the framework 
agreement between the Council of Ministers of  the Republic of Albania and the European 
Commission for cooperation rules for Albania assistance in the frame of the instrument for 
pre-accession (IPA)".
5 
4.7.  The Inter-sectoral Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development 2014-2020 (ISARD) which 
was adopted on 29 October 2014 lays out the Government's programme for the sector, in line with 
the overall objective of moving towards integration into the EU. The authorities note that the ISARD reflects the EU's approach for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2014-2020. The strategy is supported by the EU's IPARD. Th e ISARD intends to introduce various measures 
including financial support measures, promotion of investment (e.g. in physical assets of 
agricultural holdings), support for the setting up of producers' groups, and the adoption of quality schemes (e.g. organic products, products with protected designation of origin and geographical 
indication). The Government estimates that expenses plus investments to implement the strategy 
will be €93 million for the period between 2014 and 2020. 
4.1.3  Border and related measures 
4.8.  Tariff protection granted to the agriculture sector is higher than the overall simple average 
applied MFN tariff. While the latter was 4.2% in 2015, the average MFN applied tariff for agriculture (WTO definition) was 8.7%. Albania has bound all agricultural tariff lines and does not 
                                               
4 Previously, the Ministry of Agricult ure, Food and Consumer Protection. 
5 Other relevant laws include: Law No. 87/2013 "On categorization of production, labelling and trading 
of olive oil and olive pomace oil"; Law No. 171/2014 "On completion of the legal procedures of transferring the agriculture land owned by the former-a griculture enterprises in ownership of  the beneficiaries", which aims at 
the completion of legal procedures for transferring the ownership of the former  agriculture enterprises 
agriculture land without compensation to the beneficiaries under the Law No. 8053 of 21 December 1995 "On transfer of ownership of agricultural land", as amended,  who have not made the transition in ownership, under 
the conditions and procedures specified by this Law; Law No. 172/2014 "On some additions and amendments" to Law No. 9948 of 7 July 2008 "On reviewing the legal validity of property titles on agricultural land", as amended; Law No. 38 of 5 April 2012 "On agricultural cooperative societies"; Law No. 74/2013 On some changes and amendments on the Law No. 9863, dated 28 January 2008, "On food"; Law No. 10465 of 29 September 2012 "On veterinary service in the Republic of Albania"; Law No. 10416 of 7 April 2011 "On the 
planting and plant propagating material", as amended; Law No. 67/2013 of 14 February.2013 "On amending 
Law on the planting and plant propagating material  No. 10416 of 7 April 2011"; and Law No. 64/05/2012 "On 
fishery". WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  maintain tariff quotas, except for those applied under some regional trade agreements (Table 
A3.3). 
4.9.  In 2015, in value terms, top exporters of ag ricultural and food products to Albania included 
Italy, Greece, and Serbia (Table 4.2). 
Table 4.2 Imports of agricultural products (WTO definition) by main trading partners, 
2014 
Product descriptionsa Value of 
imports  
(US$ million) Main trading partners 
Principal Second Third 
Total agriculture 533.1 Italy (21.6%)  Greece (20.8%) Serbia (10.9%)  
Cereals 69.0 Russian Federation (40.3%)  Serbia (36.6%) Italy (7.8%)  
Preparations of cereals, 
flour, starch or milk; pastry cooks' products 55.0 
Turkey (38.3%)  Italy (29.4%) Greece (16.9%)  
Edible fruit and nuts; peel 
of citrus fruit or melons 52.7 Greece (44.4%)  Italy (20.6%) Ecuador (17.8%)  
Meat and edible meat offal  45.3 Brazil (30.9%)  US (29.7%)  Italy (19.1%)  
Beverages, spirits and 
vinegar 44.1 Italy (42.7%)  Greece (24.9%) Serbia (19.7%)  
Animal or vegetable fats 
and oils and their cleavage 
products; prepared edible 
fats; animal or vegetable waxes 39.9 Ukraine (29.1%)
 Bulgaria 22.2%) Former Yugoslav 
Republic of 
Macedonia (18.9%) 
Sugars and sugar 
confectionery 30.0 Brazil (39.5%)  Algeria (38.9%) Turkey (9%)  
Live animals 28.4 Greece (52.0%)  Hungary 12.4%) Romania (11.1%)  
Coffee, tea, maté and 
spices 25.1 Italy (53.6%)  Brazil (19.8%) India (16.2%)  
Miscellaneous edible 
preparations 23.2 Italy (38.9%)  Turkey (18.9%) Greece (13.9%)  
a  Data are presented at the 2-digit HS level. 
 
Note: WTO definition of agriculture: HS Chapters 01-24 (e xcluding fish and fishery products (HS Chapter 3, 0508, 
0511.91, 1504.10, 1504.20, 1603-1605 and 2301.20)) plus some selected products (HS 2905.43, 2905.44, 2905.45, 3301, 3501-3505, 3809.10, 3823, 3824.60, 4101-4103, 4301, 5001-5003, 5105-5103, 5201-5203, 5301, and 5302). 
 
Source:  UN Comtrade. 
4.10.  Albania does not apply the special safeguar d mechanism to any agricultural product. Albania 
has not notified any export restrictions to the WTO under Article 12.1(b) of the Agreement on 
Agriculture. 
4.1.4  Export subsidies 4.11.  Albania has notified the WTO that, for the period 2009-2010, it provided no export 
subsidies.
6 
4.1.5  Domestic support measures 4.12.  The current domestic support measures in the agri-food sector include direct payments, 
national investment schemes; subsidized loan schemes (e.g. interest free loans). They amounted 
to €12.5 million in 2015 (€12 million in 2014).
7 In the provision of direct payments, the authorities 
established in 2012 priority sectors including: fruit, nuts, olives, vineyards, vegetables produced in greenhouses, milk, olive oil, honey, organic products, snail breeding, and medicinal plants, as well 
as promotion of agricultural cooperatives, promotion of banking credit for agriculture, and 
increasing the number of animals.  
4.13.  Under the ISARD, financial support is made available for restructuring and modernizing 
production, increasing competitiveness, ensuring a sustainable utilization of resources, and 
                                               
6 WTO document G/AG/N/ALB/5. 
7 EU Albania Progress Report (2015) and EU (2014). WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  generating alternative income possibilities. Support  is also made available to farmers and agro-
processing operators that fulfil the national regulatory requirements.8 
4.14.  Albania's notifications to the WTO on domestic support cover the period 2009-2010 and 
2013. Albania has reported that it did not provide Amber Box support (i.e. Current Total Aggregate 
Measurement of Support (AMS)) above the de minimis  threshold over this period. Non-product 
specific AMS has consisted largely of irrigation-r elated projects and support for greenhouses. The 
main target for Green Box spending has been inspection and infrastructural services.9 
4.15.  The agriculture and fishing sectors are ex empt from the implementation of Law No. 9374. 
4.2  Mining and Energy 4.2.1  Mining 4.16.  Albania is a country rich in mineral resour ces. Exploration, exploitation and processing of 
minerals constitutes an important activity for the Albanian economy: mining employs 8,000 
people, and has a production worth €150 million (i.e. between 1.5% and 2% of the GDP), €80 million of which is exported. 
4.17.  The identified reserves for the various types of minerals are described in Table 4.3 below. 
Table 4.3 Albania's mineral reserves 
Mineral Reserves in millions of tons 
Chrome ore 23.7 
Copper ore 44.9 
Iron-nickel 266.0 
Nickel-silicate 102.0 
Coal 712.0 
Source: Information provided by the Albanian authorities. 
4.18.  The legal regime of mining is defined by Law No. 7796 of 17 February 1994, amended by 
Law No. 10304 of 15 July 2010, which basically institutes a licencing regime, as mining production 
is entirely private. Licences are granted after a tendering procedure for 10 years renewable once. The licences include a tax formula remunerating the State in the form of a rental fee.
 The Laws 
also provide for mining planning procedures, tendering procedures, control and rehabilitation of 
the environment, investments through financial guarantees, definition of dangerous areas, and 
safety procedures and regulations. 
4.19.  By mid-2015 there were 1,847 production licences granted in total, of which 615 were 
active. 33 of those were granted to foreign inve stors, notably for the production of chromium, 
copper, iron, nickel and limestone. In addition , there are 264 research and discovery licences. 
Table 4.4 below details the number of licences by type of mineral production. 
Table 4.4 Mining licences gran ted by type of production 
Production Number of licences 
Chrome 497 
Copper 60 
Ferro-nickel, Nickel-silicate 57 
Limestone 688 
Marble 77 
Gypsum alabaster 36 
Clay and kaolin 100 
Bituminous sand grit 61 
Stone coal 16 
Sterile slag 20 
Basalt 27 
Quartz 20 
Others 188 
                                               
8 MARDWA (2014), ISARD in Albania – Final Version. 
9 WTO documents G/AG/N/ALB/6 and G/AG/N/ALB/7. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  Source: Information provided by the Albanian authorities. 
4.2.2  Energy 
4.20.  The main economic indicators for the energy  sector in Albania are contained in Tables 4.5 
and 4.6 below. 
4.2.2.1  Statistical overview 
Table 4.5 Albania production, import s and exports of energy for 2013 
In thousands of tonnes of oil equivalent (ktoe) on a net calorific value basis 
 
Coala 
Crude oila 
Oil products 
Natural gas 
Nuclear 
Hydro 
Geothermal, 
solar, etc. 
Biofuels and 
waste 
Electricity 
Heat 
Totalb 
Production 1 1,207 0 15  0 598 12 201 0 0 2,034  
Imports 66 0 1,510 0 0 0 0 0 200 0 1,776  
Exports 0 1,167 33 0  0 0 0 0 0 0 1,200  
a The column of coal also includes peat and oil shale where relevant; that of crude oil includes crude 
oil, NGL, refinery feedstocks, additives and other hydrocarbons. 
b Totals may not add up due to rounding. 
 Source: International Energy Agency, online information. Viewed at: 
http://www.iea.org/statistics/statisticssearch/report/?country=Albania 
Table 4.6 Total final energetic consumption by sector for 2013 
In thousands of tonnes of oil equivalent (ktoe) on a net calorific value basis 
 
Coala 
Crude oila 
Oil products 
Natural gas 
Nuclear 
Hydro 
Geothermal, 
solar, etc. 
Biofuels and 
waste 
Electricity 
Heat 
Totalb 
Total final consumption 67 0 1,219  6 0 0 12 201 593 0 2,098  
Industry 63 0 83 6 0 0 0 10 119 0 281 
Transport 0 0 800  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 800  
Other 4 0 191 0 0 0 11 191 473 0 872 
Of which residential 0 0 80  0 0 0 5 160 332 0 578  
a The column of coal also includes peat and oil shale where relevant; that of crude oil includes crude 
oil, NGL, refinery feedstocks, additives and other hydrocarbons. 
b Totals may not add up due to rounding.  Source: International Energy Agency, online information. Viewed at: 
http://www.iea.org/statistics/statisticssearch/report/?country=Albania 
4.2.2.2  Oil 
4.21.  As can be observed from the tables above, Albania is a producer and exporter of crude oil. 
Out of the 1.3 million tons of crude oil produced in Albania in 2014, 300,000 tons were refined locally, while 1 million tons were exported. According to the national oil company Albpetrol Sh.A., the remaining reserves are estimated at 25,527,426 tons. 
4.22.  Albania imports most of it oil products, although there exist a local refinery, ARMO Sh.A., 
which is 15% state-owned and 85% in th e hands of foreign private investors. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  4.23.  The state-owned company, Albpetrol, is active in the development, production and trade of 
crude oil. The Government is planning to privatize it in 2016 and has set up a working group in March 2015 to identify options for its restructuring and privatization. Two Canadian companies, Bankers Petroleum and Petromanas, as well as the Anglo-Dutch Shell Company, are also active in 
the country in the exploration and/or production fields. Offshore reserves are presently being 
explored. 
4.24.  The regulatory framework of the oil sector consists of two main laws. First, the Petroleum 
Law (Exploration and Production) (Law No. 7746 of 28 July 1993), as
 amended, which is 
harmonized with Directive 94/22/EC of the Euro pean Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 
1994, determines the conditions for granting and using authorizations for the exploration and production of hydrocarbons. The Law recognizes that all oil reserves in the jurisdiction of Albania 
are the exclusive property of the Albanian State.  The Petroleum Law expressly permits the Ministry 
of Energy and Industry to enter into a "Petroleum Agreement" with any company which has the technical and financial capacity for exploration and production in an area. This Agreement has to 
be approved by the Council of Ministers. The contractors to this Agreement
 are granted exclusive 
rights for: 
 The exploration period, whose duration is up to 5 years and can be prolonged up to 7 years. 
 The development/exploitation period for 25 years, that can be prolonged if the contractor 
declares a commercial discovery during the exploration period. 
4.25.  The contractor is subject to tax on profit at a rate of 50% of the realized profit10, as well as 
to a royalty tax of 10% of the sales revenues11. Changes are about to be introduced in the 
petroleum agreements on the so–called "stability [of legal environment] clause". It will be limited 
i n  t i m e  t o  1 0  o r  1 2  y e a r s ,  a n d  w i l l  b e  n a r r o w e d  d o w n  s o  t h a t  t h e  e n v i r o n m e n t a l  l a w  c a n  b e  exempted from its scope. A "cost limit" in the financial scheme will also be created, whereby 
companies will have to pay taxes as of the firs t barrel produced, since not all revenues but only 
90% of them, will be affected to the recovery of the costs of exploration. 
4.26.  Second, Law No. 8450, dated 24 February 1999, "On refining, transportation and trading of 
oil, gas and their by-products",  as amended, regulates the intermediary and downstream 
petroleum activities in Albania. The Law defines, in particular, the obligations of the refinery and the wholesale trade companies regarding the maintenance of an emergency oil stock equivalent to 90 days of sales. At present, this scheme is se lf-administered by the in dustry, and the Albanian 
authorities are working on a new system that would be compliant with the relevant EU directive 
(Directive 2009/119/EC). 
4.2.2.3  Gas 
4.27.  As can be observed in the statistical tables above, the production of gas in Albania is 
marginal and, in fact, declining, the existing fields being quasi-depleted. However, a new discovery of oil and gas in the Shpiragu geological structure has been announced by Petromanas and the 
Anglo-Dutch Shell Company. They are in the eval uation phase of this discovery. There is no 
importation of gas, since Albania is not linked to the European network of pipelines. That situation is about to change with the construction of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which will begin in 
May 2016 with a start of commercial operations planned for December 2020. 
4.28.  The regulatory framework for gas is infl uenced by the approximation process of the EU 
acquis . The regulator of the gas sector, the Energy Re gulatory Entity (ERE) is also that of the 
electricity sector, established by Law No. 43/2015 of 30 April 2015 "On power sector". Its 
competences correspond, to a very large extent, to that mandated for independent regulatory 
authorities by the 2009 EU Third Energy Package. On 17 April 2015, the ERE, adopted a Decision 
to prolong the exemption granted to the TAP  project from certain requirements of the gas acquis , 
such as unbundling, third party access and tariff regulation. The Decision was developed jointly 
with the regulators of Italy and Greece. The TAP pipeline will have to be certified as an 
                                               
10 According to Law No. 7811, dated 12 April 1994, "On approval of Decree No. 782", dated 22 February 
1994 "On the fiscal system in the hydrocarbons sector (exploration-production)". 
11 According to Law No. 9975, date 28 July 2008, "On the national taxes". WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  independent transmission operator, which is one of the models allowed by the Third Energy 
Package, before the beginning of its construction in May 2016. 
4.29.  A new Law "On natural gas sector", amending the existing Law, was adopted on 23 
September 2015 by the Albanian Parliament (L aw No. 102/2015, dated 23 September 2015, "On 
natural gas sector"), which aims at full compliance with the EU Third Energy Package. Based on 
t h i s  n e w  L a w ,  t h e  M i n i s t r y  o f  E n e r g y  a n d  I n d u stry, in cooperation with the Energy Community 
Secretariat, is preparing the secondary legislation on the gas sector. 
4.30.  The requirements for non-discriminatory access to the transmission and distribution 
networks, as well as storage and liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities, are established by the new Law. The conditions for refusal of access are aligned with the gas acquis . Access is granted 
pursuant to the rules and tariffs approved by the ERE. 
4.31.  The Law requires a transmission system op erator (TSO) to adopt a Grid Code which would 
transpose third party access services, capacity allocation, congestion management and, partly, the transparency obligations of Regulation (EC) 715/ 2009. The ERE, in cooperation with the Energy 
Community Secretariat, is also working to adopt the Gas Grid Code, and other regulatory acts. 
4.32.  Currently, Albpetrol owns licences, issued by  the ERE, as operator of both the gas 
transmission network
12 and the gas distribution network13. Based on the provisions of the new Gas 
Law, Albpetrol must complete the procedures for the unbundling of its gas transmission and 
distribution activities. In this context, the Supervisory Board of Albpetrol JSC has taken Decision No. 29 of 28 September 2015, "For the approval  of the structure of the Center of Gas 
Transmission and Distribution". Final approval by the Ministry of Economy is still pending. 
4.33.  In 2014, under Round 11 of the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), a grant 
worth EUR 1.1 million was approved for the prep aration of the Gas Master Plan for Albania 
(GMPA). The GMPA, which will be completed by Octo ber 2016, will investigate issues such has the 
diversification of energy resources, connection to regional and European gas networks, and the 
establishment of the gas sector and market in Albania. 
4.2.2.4  Electricity 
4.34.  As can be observed from the statistical tables above, electricity production in Albania is 
essentially of hydro-electric origin, and hence sensitive to weather conditions and vulnerable to climate change, with a small share of geothermal origin. While Albania does not export electricity, it imports about one third of its consumption from neighbouring countries. 
4.35.  In practice, the electricity sector of Albania still operates mainly under regulated conditions. 
The wholesale market is dominated by the state-owned, regulated electricity production company Korporata Elektro-energjitike e Shqiptare (KESh) . KESh operates the three state-owned large 
hydro generation plants and the (currently non-functional) thermal power plant Vlora. KESh  
provides the electricity for the captive customers, including required imports and balancing, under regulated wholesale prices. KESh  acts as supplier of last resort and exporter. The competitive part 
of wholesale covers 20% of the overall supply, and involves trading and supply through bilateral 
contracts between 74 independent producers (of which 26 are foreign-owned) and 16 so-called "large eligible customers", i.e. consumers connected via the 100 kV or consuming more than 50 million kWh per year, e.g. the cement, petroleum and steel industries and the water supply sector. 
4.36.  The retail supply is dominated by Operatori i Shperndarjes se Energjise Elektrike (OShEE). 
After the unsuccessful privatization episode and a settlement agreement with the Czech company 
CEZ, it is now a state-owned company. In October 2014, the ERE re-issued its license for 
distribution and retail public supply. OShEE supplies electricity to all categories of captive 
customers under regulated prices. The new Law includes a schedule for gradual liberalization of the retail segment (30 June 2016 for customers connected with a voltage of 35 kV; 31 December 
2016 for customers connected with a voltage of 20 kV; and 31 December 2017 for customers 
                                               
12 ERE Decision No. 118, dated 22 August 2012, "On licensing of Albpetrol JSC in the activity of natural 
gas transmission".  
13 ERE Decision No. 119, dated 22 August 2015, "On licensing of Albpetrol JSC in the activity of 
distribution of natural gas".  WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  connected with voltages of 10kV and 0.6 kV). Fi nally the state-owned, legally unbundled, company 
Operatori i Sistemit te Transmetimit (OST) oper ates the transmission system of Albania and 
performs central dispatching of the electricity loads. 
4.37.  The regulatory framework of the sector ha s been completely revamped by the new Law No. 
43/2015 "On power sector", adopted on 30 April 2015. This Law approximates  the provisions of 
Directive 2009/72/EC (the Third Energy Package) an d addresses the liberalization of the electricity 
market, the treatment of public service obligations , the unbundling of the transmission system, the 
powers of the national regulatory authority, and the supply of electricity and customer protection. 
4.38.  In terms of unbundling, the transmission oper ator OST will be, according to Article 72 of the 
Law, ownership-unbundled before the end of 2017 as re quired by the relevant EU Directive, as will 
the distribution system operator OShEE. 
4.39.  Mandatory third party access and treatment of exemptions are fully transposed by the 
Power Sector Law. Network tariffs are set and pub lished by the ERE. The Law also transposes the 
requirements on congestion management and provis ion of information as required by Regulation 
(EC) 714/2009 and its Annex. The implementation will depend on the passing of secondary 
legislation. 
4.40.  Eligibility is ensured by the Power Sector Law which explicitly grants the right to all 
customers to switch supplier, in particular to low-voltage customers including households. The 
development of switching rules is envisaged, and th e Law foresees the opening of the retail market 
in a gradual manner according to the voltage level, starting with 110 kV customers and ending with 10 kV customers who will have to buy electricity on the market by the end of 2017. Low-
voltage level (0.4 kV) customers may st ill benefit from a universal service. 
4.41.  Authorizations for new hydropower plants  are granted based on the Concession Law (Law 
No. 9663 of 18 June 2006, as amended by Law No. 125/2013 on concessions and PPP) and a 
competitive bidding process, or through the authorization of the construction of new power 
generating facilities regulated by Decision No. 822 of the Council of Ministers. Power plants below 2 MW which are not subject to the Concession Law are granted an authorization by the Ministry in 
charge of energy. 
4.2.2.5  Renewable energies 4.42.  The Law "On renewable energy", No. 138/2013, was adopted in May 2013. Albania has 
committed to a binding 38% target of gross final energy consumption from renewable sources in 
2020. In 2009, it was 31.2%. This Law transposes the 10% renewables target by 2020 in the 
transport sector from Directive 2009/28/EC. It also  provides that the Government shall approve 
simplified procedures on issuing the necessary au thorizations for producers of renewable energy. 
However, these procedures have not yet been established. 
4.43.  In addition, the 2015 Power Sector Law pr ovides for priority and guaranteed access of 
renewable energy producers to the electricity netw orks, and also priority dispatch of electricity 
produced from renewable sources. The 2008 Law "On biofuels" introduced some measures 
required under the then-relevant EU Directive, bu t it was never implemented. It is about to be 
revised with a view to transposing the requirements of Directive 2009/28/EC on sustainability criteria and introducing more adequate incentive measures. For now, Albania applies operational 
support only to electricity from hydropower. Energy from renewable sources other than 
hydropower is currently not supported. 
4.3  Manufacturing 
4.44.  Manufacturing stricto sensu  represented 5.6% of the GDP in Albania in 2014. This figure 
appears very low but, if the energy and the mini ng sector are added to it, this share is 14.2%. 
Construction, a semi-industrial activity, represents 11%. 
4.45.  In terms of employment, the non-food in dustry manufacturing sector represents 8.6%, 
which demonstrates a relatively high labour intensity. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  4.46.  Table 4.7 below describes the contribution of the various subsectors of manufacturing to 
GDP, and shows that the textile and leather/footwe ar sector accounts for the largest part (30.7%), 
followed by metal products (18.2%), rubber and plastic products (17.8%), and food processing 
(13.3%). 
Table 4.7 Contribution to GDP and employme nt of the manufacturing sector, 2010-14 
 2010  2011  2012 2013a 2014b 
Manufacturing sector (US$ million) 650 730 568 622 640  
   % of GDP at current basic prices 6.3 6.5 5.3 5.6 5.6 
   Annual % change at 2010 constant pricesc 11.6  10.5 -15.7 6.6 3.6 
US$ million (% of total manufacturing sector)       
   Textiles, wearing apparel and leather products 165  
(25.4%) 196 
(26.8%) 161 
(28.4%) 183 
(29.5%) 194 
(30.7%) 
   Basic metals and fabricated metal products, except machinery 
and equipment 111  
(17%) 120 
(16.5%) 99 
(17.4%) 116 
(18.7%) 115 
(18.2%)  
Rubber and plastic products and other non-metallic mineral 
products 121 
(18.5%) 132 
(18.1%) 105 
(18.5%) 111 
(17.8%) 112 
(17.8%)  
   Food products, beverages and tobacco products  102 
(15.6%) 111 
(15.3%) 94 
(16.6%) 89 
(14.2%) 84 
(13.3%)  
   Wood and paper products, and printing 67 
(10.2%) 69  
(9.4%) 58 
(10.2%) 49  
(7.9%) 52 
(8.2%)  
Furniture; other manufacturing; repair and installation of 
machinery and equipment 42  
(6.5%) 48  
(6.6%) 41  
(7.2%) 43  
(6.9%) 47  
(7.4%) 
   Other manufacturing activities 44  
(6.7%) 53  
(7.3%) 10  
(1.7%) 31  
(5%) 28 
(4.4%) 
        
Employment .. .. .. 75,747  89,187  
% of total employment in non-food industry secto r .. .. .. 7.6  8.6  
 
.. Not available. a Semi-final. 
b Preliminary. 
c Chain-linked volume measures, reference 2010 year (2010=100). 
 Source: Instant online information. Viewed at: http://www.instat.gov.al/  and information provided by the Albanian 
authorities. 
4.47.  As detailed in Table 4.8 below, the main manufactured exports of Albania are apparels 
(24.1%), followed by leather and related products (16.2%), basic metal industry (14.0%), and rubber and plastic products (10.4%). The main manufactured imports of Albania are coke and refined petroleum products (12.6%), followed by food products (10.8%), and chemicals (7.4%). 
Table 4.8 Albania's trade by industry (ISIC Rev.4), 2010-14 
  2010  2011  2012 2013 2014  
Imports (US$ billion) 4.1  4.7 4.2 4.4 4.6  
Imports (€ billion) 3.1 3.4 3.3 3.3 3.5 
 (% of total manufacturing imports)a 
Coke and refined petroleum products 12.2 14.7 16.0 16.2 12.6 
Food products 10.5 10.4 10.9 10.5 10.8 
Chemicals and chemical products 6.4 6.4 7.5 8.0 7.4 
Motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers 5.4 6.5 7.1 6.4 6.6 
Machinery and equipment n.e.c. 5.6 6.8 6.2 5.6 6.5 
Wearing apparel 4.2 4.2 4.1 4.5 5.2 
Rubber and plastics products 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.8 5.0 
Textiles 4.0 3.9 3.9 4.4 5.0 
Basic metals 6.4 6.7 6.3 5.5 5.0 
Electrical equipment 5.7 5.4 4.3 4.3 4.7 
Exports (US$ billion) 1.1  1.3 1.2 1.4 1.6  
Exports (€ billion) 0.8 0.9 0.9 1.0 1.2 
 (% of total manufacturing exports)a 
Wearing apparel 26.4 25.0 24.3 24.1 24.1 
Leather and related products 15.3 14.9 14.7 14.9 16.2 
Basic metals 17.8 18.9 17.9 16.3 14.0 
Rubber and plastics products 9.7 9.8 9.8 10.6 10.4 
Other non-metallic mineral products 4.6 5.0 6.7 5.9 5.3 
Coke and refined petroleum products 1.3 2.5 1.0 1.9 5.2 WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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    2010  2011  2012 2013 2014  
Food products 5.0 5.4 6.0 5.6 4.8 
Fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment 5.5 4.8 5.4 4.7 4.5 
Paper and paper products 2.0 1.7 2.1 3.5 3.9 
Electrical equipment 3.6 3.7 3.3 3.1 2.7 
Note: A definition for the ma nufacturing sector is based on ISIC Re v. 4; thus the figures cover all trade 
related to manufacturing. 
 a Only the top ten sectors are presented, according to 2014 trade.  Source: WTO Secretariat's calculations, based on information provided by the authorities. 
4.48.  The Albanian business and investment development strategy for the period 2014–2020 
assigns, in addition to the traditional objectives of competitivity, diversification and technological 
development, particular priority to the value chai n of mineral products, to the recycling industry 
and to inward processing ("façon"). 
4.4  Telecommunication services 
4.49.  The main economic characteristics for the telecommunication services sector in Albania are 
described in Box 4.1 below.  
Box 4.1 Main economic characteristics for the telecommunication sector in Albania 
Indicators 
Total telephone subscribers (per 100 inhabitants, 2014): 127 
Mobile phone subscribers (% total tel. subscribers, 2014): 93% 
Internet users (per 100 inhabitants, 2014): 60.1% 
Fixed broadband penetration (2014): 8% 
Mobile broadband penetration (2014):11% 
Electronic communications as share of GDP (2010): 4.7% 
Main actors: 
Number of companies providing value-added telecom services: 34 
 
Names and market shares of the leading companies for fixed telecom services: 
 
Albtelecom: 77%, Abcom: 7%, Nisatel: 4%, Albanian Satellite telecom: 2%, AMC Fiks:1%, Other alternative 
operators (i.e. about 80 operators): 9% 
 
Name and market shares of the leading co mpanies for mobile te lephones services: 
Vodafone Albania: 46%, Telecom Albania (AMC): 33%, Albtelecom (Eagle Mobile): 13%, Plus 
Communication: 8% 
 
Name and market share of the mobile broadband internet services (2014):  
Vodafone: 60%, Telekom Albania: 23.5%, Albtelcom: 16.5% 
 
Name and market share of fixed broadband internet services (2014):  
Albtelecom: 40%, Abcom: 23%, ASC: 13%, Abissnet: 11%, Other alternative operators: 13% (total: 131 
ISP) 
 
Foreign ownership participation in telecom companies: 
 
- Telecom Albania is 100% owned by Cosmote (OTE-Deutsche telecom), from Greece and Germany; 
- Vodafone Albania is 100% owned by Vodafone plc, UK; 
- Albtelcom and its mobile arm Eagle Mobile are 76% owned by  Calik Enerji Telecommunications 
(consortium of Calik Enerji an d Türk Telekom), from Turkey; 
- PRIMO is 75% owned by  telecom Slovenia; 
- Abcom, which is 100% owned by American Broadband (USA). 
 
State ownership: 
All Albanian telecommunications undertakings are 100% privately owned, except the fixed incumbent 
operator Albtelecom Sh.A, which has a 24% state shareholding 
Establishment of new companies, mergers or closures since the last Review: none 
 
4.50.  Regarding pricing of mobile telephony (whi ch constitutes by far the largest segment of the 
telecom market), the International Telecommunication Union "Measuring the Information Society WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  Report" of 2015 has computed that the monthly pr ice basket is US$30.4, i.e. 8.03% of the gross 
national monthly income per capita. However, the authorities underline that most consumers use monthly bundles, and that the monthly bundle of the main operator costs only US$9.09 per month, i.e. 2.24% of the gross national monthly income, or US$0.03 per minute on average. 
4.51.  Box 4.2 describes the regulatory framewor k for telecommunication services in Albania. 
Box 4.2 Regulatory framework for tele communication services in Albania 
GATS commitments: 
Albania has undertaken full commitments (none for mode s 1, 2 and 3 for both market access and national 
treatment) for all telecommunications services except for voice telephony over private networks, and has 
subscribed to the disciplines of the telecom reference paper. 
Interconnection and competition issues: 
Fixed interconnection regime: Fixed interconnection is regulated by the 19 May 2008 Law No. 9918 "On 
electronic communications", by the Regulation "On access and interconnection", by AKEP's decisions of 
significant market powers (SMP), an d by reference interconnection offe rs and interconnection agreements. 
 
After conducting market analysis, AKEP designated, in 2007, Albtelecom (the fixed telephony incumbent) as 
a provider with significant market power (SMP) in the markets of wholes ale call origination, wholesale call 
termination on its network, and wh olesale transit on the fixed publ ic telephone networks. AKEP has 
consequently imposed transparency, non-discrimination, provision of access, cost-orientation and price 
regulation remedies on Albtelecom. A Reference Inte rconnection Offer (RIO) was approved in 2007 by AKEP, 
and was subsequently modified and updated after th e entry into force of the 2009 Law "On electronic 
communications". It is publicly available on the Albtelecom website. 
 
In 2013, AKEP designated 77 alternativ e operators with SMP in the relevant market, for services of call 
termination on their own individual public telephone networks provided at a fixed location. AKEP has imposed 
transparency (but no RIO obligation), non-discriminati on, provision of access and price regulation remedies 
on these 77 alternative operators. 
 
In June 2015, AKEP has approved for publication the do cument "Market analysis of  fixed telephony". In it, 
AKEP proposed that: 
 
 The wholesale call origination market would be deregulated because, according to market analysis, it 
does not pass the "three criteria test", and it is th erefore not liable for ex ante intervention. It is, 
hence, proposed to remove the obligation s imposed on Albtelecom in this market; 
 Starting from 1 January 2016, call termination rates on all fixed networks would become identical, i.e. 
there would be symmetric tariffs between the incumb ent operator and the alternative operators, and 
only one segment (versus two, currently) for all network operators that offer fixed telephony; 
 Fixed termination rates of the incumbent network op erator and of the altern ative operators would be 
reduced following a glide path with two stages , namely 1 January 2016 and 1 January 2017. This 
would amount to a 68% reduct ion from the current level; 
 The transit rate of Albtelecom would be reduced in two stages (1 January 2016 and 1 January 2017) 
to 54% of the current level. 
 
This document is published on the AKEP website, and the period of public consultation ended on 
15 September 2015. 
 
Mobile interconnection regime: the obligation to offer access to Mobile Virtual Network Operators and 
national roaming was imposed on the two largest mob ile operators in March 2010. However, no requests 
were made to establish MVNOs and, in the meantime, a fourth mobile provider started operations. Hence, in 
July 2012, the regulator, stating this absence of intere st and the loss of SMP by the two main operators, 
discontinued these roaming obligations. This does not preclude new MVNOs establishing in the future and 
requesting the resolution of their complaints by the regulator if they fail to agree on access with mobile 
network operators.  
 
Number of complaints filed or resolutions effected  of interconnection disputes among operators: 35 
Other regulatory aspects: 
 
Main recent and planned regulatory changes: 
 
- Albania has started implementing the EU acquis  on telecom in 2008, via the transposition of the EU 
2003 regulatory framework, in the Law "On electronic communications". In October 2012, 
amendments to that Law were adopted in Law No. 102/2012 so as to transpose the 2009 EU 
regulatory framework. 
- The National Plan for the development of broadband was approved by DCM No. 468, dated 30 May WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  2013. It provides a roadmap for the Government, pu blic administration and AKEP for the period 
2013-2020 on how to develop universal access to internet.  
 
Regulatory supervision: 
 
- The Minister responsible for electronic communicat ion is the Minister of State for Innovation and 
Public Administration. 
- The regulatory body is the Autoriteti Komunikimeve Elektronike dhe Postare (AKEP), which was 
established in 1998. The rules for dismissal of Members of the board have been changed in 2012. 
Before dismissing or removing a member of the Board, the member shall be given the opportunity to 
submit its claims to the committees of the Parliament. The decision to dismiss/remove the chairman, 
a member or more than one member of the Board sh ould be based on law and justify reasons leading 
to their dismissal/removal. Parliament's decision is published. In addition, rotating mandates of 
various durations have been instituted, so as to ensure continuity. 
 
Liberalization steps: local rural fixed voice telephony: 1998, local urban fixed voice telephony: 2007, national 
fixed voice telephony: 2003, international fixed voice telephony: 2005, data networks: 1998, institution of a 
general authorization licencing regime: 2008, ab olition of all remaining restrictions: 2013. 
 
Facility sharing: Regulation No. 26, dated 16 August 2 012, "For content, form and function of electronic 
registry of electronic public communications networks in Albania", and AKEP Regulation No. 35, dated 10 July 
2015, "On rules for use of shared facilities and assets of public electronic communication networks". This 
Regulation defines the principles, respon sibilities and procedures for the use of shared facilities and assets of 
public electronic communication networks (passive elements). These rules also define the method for 
determining the fees and tariffs for these services, in case of disputes between the undertakings. To that 
effect, AKEP provides, develops and maintains the electr onic registry, and prepares guidelines for the access 
and use of the data in it. The electronic registry cont ains data on public electronic communications networks, 
including, inter alia , geographic coordinates, technical details and the evaluation of the exploited capacities 
of objects of electronic communications, cable routes and radio transmitters. 
These data are shared with the municipalities, so that they can get a proper pictur e when delivering rights of 
way for infrastructure. A new draft law is being prepar ed for the sharing of infrastructure, including power 
lines and water infrastructures. Pricing will remain free but subject to benchmarking and dispute resolution 
by the regulator. 
 
Local loop unbundling: 
 
AKEP has designated Albtelecom as an SMP operator for fixed local access (LLU) and bitstream access, and 
has imposed on it the obligation to publish the Refe rence Unbundling Offer (RUO). The offer has been 
published in the website of Albtelecom since 2013, and was last updated in 2015. 
 
Number portability: Number portability has been  implemented since 2010 for both mobile and fixed 
telephony via a central database whose legal basis is Article 88 of Law No. 9918 "On Electronic 
Communications" and Regulation No. 13, dated 16 Ap ril 2010, "On number portability". This Regulation 
defines the modalities and timing of the implementation of number portability.  
 
Spectrum management: 
 
Spectrum management in Albania is ba sed on four layers of regulations: 
 
- First, the National Frequency Plan , (Government Decision No. 466, dated 27 February 2013) which is 
based on the ITU Radio Regulati ons, determines the frequency bands for radio communication 
services, and shows the allocation of radio frequency  bands, giving an overview of the use of the 
radio frequency spectrum in the national and international context. It can be found on the web page: 
http://www.akep.al/en/national-frequencies-plan 
 
- Second, the frequencies usage plan, approved by the AKEP, includes: 
 Frequency bands allocated to the National Frequency Plan, for "civil" usage, which can be used 
for civil purposes, as well as radio services appl ications, defined in these frequency bands; and 
 Rules relating to the use of frequency bands, including features of frequency management for 
networks of radio communications, radio stat ions and radio equipment, the method of 
providing frequency, various instances of indivi dual authorization of the use of frequencies, 
technical requirements and conditions of oper ation associated with the operation of radio 
systems. 
 
The Plan is published on the web page: h ttp://www.akep.al/en/frequencies-usage-plan 
 
- Third, frequency usages not requir ing an individual authorization ar e defined by AKEP Decision No. 
2481, dated 15 May 2014. They include all the Wide-Band Data Tran smission Equipment 
(WAS/RLAN), Equipment for Automatic Vehicle Identi fication for Railways (AVI), Non-Specific Short WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  Range Devices, Low-Power Al arms for Security and Safety, Social Alarms, etc. 
- Fourth, an individual authorizatio n regime for frequencies  assignment and usage, which is based on 
the rules approved by AKEP Decision No. 2395,  dated 5 December 2013. They include radio and 
television operators that use radio frequencies for fixed link s, and point-to-point; private entities that 
use radio frequencies in UHF/VHF bands for private mobile radio (PMR), private entities that use 
frequencies for satellite stations  or TETRA systems, and undertakings using frequencies for study, 
research, testing and experimentation. In case of demand being superior to the number of 
frequencies available, a tendering procedure will be used. 
- For mobile telephony, all four operators have be en assigned spectrum in the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz. 
Three of them also in 2.1 and two also in 2.6 GHz bands. Three operators provide 3G (since 2010-
2013) and 4G services (since 2015). 
 
Accounting rates: unregulated 
Licensing: 
A general authorization licensing regi me was instituted in 2008 by the Law "On electronic communications", 
and further implemented by Regulation No. 24, dated 2 February 2012, "On general authorization", approved 
by AKEP No. 1774, dated 2 February 2012. 
 
Individual authorizations are required only for the rights to use radio spectrum bands when they are 
considered scarce resources.  
 
Universal service: No universal service, but co-investment procedures and infrastructures sharing with 
operators to cover blackspots areas including for broadband.  
 
4.5  Financial services 
4.52.  The main economic indicators for financial services in Albania are described in Box 4.3. Box 4.3 Financial services: statistical overview 
General: 
Share of financial services in the GDP: 
2010: 2.39% (of which insurance 0.39%) 
2014: 2.48% (of which insurance 0.34%) 
Employment in financial services (banks and insurance companies) 
2010: 7,609 (of which insurance 1,225) 
2014: 8,196 (of which insurance 1,377) 
Net financial services exports (as percentage of GDP): 
2010: 0.03% 
2014: 0.03% 
Net financial services imports (as percentage of GDP): 
2010: 0.11% 
2014: 0.10% 
Capital stock of foreign financial servic es providers (as percentage of GDP): 
2010: 7.34% (of which insurance 0.27%) 
2014: 7.71% (of which insurance 0.3%) 
Significance of the financial se rvices arm of the Post Office: 
The100% state-owned Albanian Post S. A./Posta Shqiptare Sh.A has a very low market share: in 2014, this 
non-bank financial institution performed 0.2% of the total number of transactions, or 0.12% of the total 
amount performed by all non-bank financial institutions in the field of payments and money transfers services. 
Its importance in the primary T-bill market is also insignificant. 
Banking services: 
Number of banks and recent consolidation: 
2010: 16 banks (of which 14 foreign controlled banks, of which 2 branches of foreign banks) 
2014: 16 banks (of which 14 foreign controlled banks, the two branches having been transformed into 
subsidiaries) 
Concentration/share of the various types of banks in the total balance sheet for banks: 
2010: foreign controlled banks with 90.6% of the assets; local banks with 9.4%; Top 5 banks: 72% 
2014: foreign controlled banks with 86.3% of the assets; local banks with 13.7%; Top 5 banks: 74.7% 
Lending activities (credit volume) 
2010: lek 490.869,67 million (domestic currency lending: 30.2%; foreign currency lending: 69.8%) 
2014: lek 595.138,33 million (domestic currency lending: 38.3%; foreign currency lending: 61.7%) WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  Securities activities: (securities holdings in bank accounts) 
2010: lek 320.825,03 million 
2014: lek 436.023,82 million 
Insurance: 
Number of insurance companies and recent consolidation 
2014: 10 companies, of which life: 2, non-life: 7, life and non-life: 1 
Total balance sheet of the insurance sector 
As of March 2015: €182million, of which life insurance: 16%, non-life: 84% 
total assets split: 
2010: foreign controlled insurance companies: 48.9% of total assets; domestic insurance companies: 51.1% 
2014: foreign controlled insurance companies: 59.4% of total assets; domestic insurance companies: 40.6% 
Concentration: 
Cumulative market share of the top 5 companies (2014): 65.61% 
Pensions funds: 
Number of pension funds (2014):  6, of which 3 management companies of voluntary pension funds, and 3 
banks acting as deposito ries of pension funds  
Total assets (2014): €4.49 million 
Stock exchange and securities: 
Capitalization of the companies listed:  There are no companies listed on the Tirana Stock Exchange. 
Bonds: The volume of secondary market of government securities during the period January-June 2015 was 
dominated by transactions in short-term instruments (T-Bills) at 65.14%. The remaining part was long-term 
instruments (notes and bonds) at 34.86%. In terms of th e number of transactions, 82.51% of all transactions 
in the secondary market of governme nt securities we re in T-Bills. 
 
4.53.  Box 4.4 describes the main features of the regulatory framework for banking services, and their recent evolution. 
Box 4.4 Regulatory framework for banking 
GATS commitments 
 
Albania has undertaken commitments in the following su bsectors of insurance with  the following limitations: 
 
Acceptance of deposits, lending of a ll types, financial leasing, all payments and money transmission services, 
guarantees and commitments: mode 1 unbound for Market Access (MA), none for national treatment (NT), 
modes 2 and 3 none for MA and NT.  
Recent or planned regulatory changes: 
 
The Bank of Albania (BoA) continued to consolidate it s work by revising the regulatory and supervisory 
framework in accordance with the provisions of the banking law and in compliance with the Basel Committee 
standards, aiming also at its further alignment with the EU acquis . 
Supervisory authorities: 
 
Ministry/agency responsible for the coor dination and strategic management of  international financial, monetary 
and tax matters: Mini stry of Finance. 
 
Sector supervisor (monitoring bank liquidity, ov erseeing payment and settlement systems, etc.): 
The Supervision Department at the BoA is responsible for assessing and monitoring  the risks of the banking 
system and individual banks, including liquidity risk; the Accounting, Finance and Payments System Department 
at the BoA is responsible for overseeing payments systems. 
 
Responsibility for competition policy issues: 
The Competition Authority is the body in charge of the application of Law No. 9121 of 28 July 2003 "On 
c o m p e t i t i o n  p r o t e c t i o n " .  I n  a p p l y i n g  t h i s  L a w  t o  r e gulated sectors (including the banking sector), the 
Competition Authority co-operates with regulatory  entities and other re gulatory institutions.  
Preferential and bilateral policies: 
 
Preferential arrangements affecting banking services: none  
 
Bilateral agreements and MOUs. MOU between the BoA an d the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (22 
April 2013). WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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Recognition of prudential measures of other countrie s through international agreements or unilaterally: 
The BoA has the right to require from the competent supe rvisory authority of the fo reign bank the necessary 
information regarding the supervis ion of this bank's project. 
Currently there are only two banking groups that are su bject to consolidated superv ision. Their affiliates are 
incorporated within the territory of the Republic of Albania. 
With regard to large international ba nking groups that have subsidiaries in Albania, the BoA has MOUs with 
foreign supervisory authorities (Greece,  Italy, Turkey, Bulgaria, Germany, and Kosovo) to share information and 
cooperate for the overall assessment of their risk profile. 
Usually the MOUs signed between the BoA and other home supervisors include some provisions regarding crisis 
management. In all the MOUs signed among institutions, an article is usually dedicated to confidentiality or 
professional secrecy issues. 
On August 2015, the European Banking Authority (EBA)'s Board of Supervisors confirmed the evaluation of the 
confidentiality regime under which the Albanian authorities operate. The EB A recommendation on Equivalence of 
Confidentiality Regime is addressed to the EU national competent authorities. 
With the Single Supervisor y Mechanism (SSM), the European Central Bank (ECB) has become the competent 
authority for prudential supervision over significant credit institutions in the Euro area, some of which operate in 
Albania. The exchange of information with the ECB will be ensured on the basis of existing MOUs. As a more 
permanent solution, a bilateral MOU with the ECB will be signed between the two authorities in the near future. 
Licensing: 
 
General criteria: 
 
The BoA shall give its initial approval for the license (Article 19, para. 2 of Banking Law No. 9662/2006, 
amended) only after it has been satisfied that: 
 
a) the bank complies with the requirements of this Law; 
b) the shareholders of the bank have a good reputation, lawful source of their contribution to the capital, 
lawful registered and regulated activities, and the financ ial potential to contribute additional funds, if the 
capital falls beneath the required minimum threshold se t by the BoA, or to effe ct necessary financing for 
the continuation of the bank's activities; 
c) the qualifications, experience and reputation of the bank's, or the branch of the foreign banks, 
administrators, as well as those of shareholders with qualifying holdings, are consistent with the business 
plan submitted for licensing purposes; 
d) the operational and control structures, including banks, or branches of a foreign bank's, procedures and 
policies, are consistent with the purpose and the performance of the proposed activities; 
e) the submitted business plan is realistic and competitiv e in the market, and the expected financial condition 
of the bank or the branch of th e foreign bank is satisfactory; 
f) the bank, or the branch of a foreign bank, has no less than two executive directors. 
 
Additional criteria for foreign banks: 
 
a) the foreign bank may exercise banking activities in the Republic of Albania th rough opening a branch or 
establishing a subsidiary (Article 7, para. 2 of Licensing Regulation No. 14/2009, amended). 
b) the foreign bank applying for a license to open a bran ch is supervised on a consolidated and sustainable 
basis by the respective foreign supervisory authorities (Article 19, para. 2/e of Banking Law No. 9662/2006, 
amended). 
c) if the subject applying for a licens e is expected to be a branch or subsidiary of a foreign bank, the 
application for acquiring a license, in addition to that stipulated in Article 17 of the Law on Banks, is 
accompanied by the following documentation (Article  7, para 3 of Licensing Regulation No. 14/2009, 
amended): 
 
a) the organization and management  scheme of the foreign bank; 
b) the list of foreign bank administrators; 
c) the by-laws that set out and adjust the mutual relationships between the parent bank and its 
branch or subsidiary in Albania; 
d) information on the recent econ omic developments and the pers pective of the origin country; 
e) information relating to the assessment of the bank's performance issued by the supervisory 
authority of the respective country and by the intern ational rating agencies (ratings, if applicable); 
f) information relating to the mana gement, strategy, capital ownership structure, and financial state 
of the foreign bank; 
g) the documentation defined in letters "a" an d "e" of paragraph 1, of this Article. 
 
Decision No. 55, of the Supervisory Council of the Bo A of 1 October 2014 introduced some amendments to the WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
- 89 - 
 
  existing Regulation No. 14 of 11 March 2009 "On granting the license and the exercise of banking activity of 
banks and branches of foreign banks in the Republic of Al bania". First, a new criteria  was added to decide on a 
shareholder application to increase sh areholdings in a bank beyond 33% and 50% of the capital. Second, some 
criteria were added regarding granting the approval fo r expanding the banking network outside the Republic of 
Albania, by opening a branch, subsidiary or representati v e  o f f i c e .  T h e y  f o c u s  m a i n l y  o n  t h e  a n a l y s i s  o f  t h e  
economic and political conditions of the home country;  the characteristics of the banking and/or financial 
system of the home country; the market position of th e foreign bank; the banking supervision scheme in the 
home country; the accounting legislatio n and practices applicable in the home  country; etc. In the meantime, to 
provide cross-border banking and/or financial services outs ide the territory of the Republic of Albania, for which 
the bank is obliged to inform the BoA, some criteria are determined to assess and justify the refusal of the 
licence for providing these services, should the BoA so decide. 
 
Licencing organ: the Supervisory Council of the BoA. 
Limitation of numbers of licences: There are no  limitations for the numbe rs of bank licences. 
Statutory maximum delay to pr ocess licences applications: 
The licensing process of banks and branches of foreign banks includes two phases (Article 16 of Banking Law 
No. 9662/2006, amended): 
 
a)  the initial approval of the licence, and 
b)  the granting of the licence. 
 
The BoA shall, within three months from the date of th e acceptance of the applicat ion for a license, grant or 
refuse the initial approval for the licence, and shall notify the applicant of such decision in writing. 
 
The BoA shall repeal the initial approval of the license if  the bank, or the branch of the foreign bank, does not 
meet the conditions for obtaining the license within 12 months from the initial approval for the license. The BoA 
has the right to extend this deadline no long er than 6 months from the date of its expiry. 
 
Validity of a licence: 
 
The license is perpetual, non-transferable and not trad able. The annex activities, for which the bank, or the 
branch of a foreign bank, is licensed following compliance with the requirements set out in the Banking Law and 
by-laws issued by the BoA, is an  integral part of the license. 
 
Restrictions on banks sellin g or disposing of licences:  The license is perpetual, non-transferable and not tradable 
 
Minimum capital requirements to obtain a licence: A person/persons applying to exercise a financial and 
banking activity in the Republic of Albania through the es tablishment and license of a bank, shall deposit for this 
purpose at the BoA a minimum initial capital amounting to not less than lek 1 (one) billion. A foreign bank 
applying to carry out a banking and financial activity in the Republic of Albania through its branch, shall deposit 
for this purpose at the BoA the endowed initial capital of the branch, amounting to not less than lek 1 (one) 
billion.  
Administrative allocation of  financial resources: none.  
Determination of interest  rates and fees: free.  
Prudential regulations: 
 
Measures to ensure compliance with the Basel Committe e's Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision:  
In October-November 2013, the financial system and its oversight were subject to an assessment by the 
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB). This assessment included all segments of the 
financial system, the way of overseeing them, the approximation to international standards, and the public 
authorities' ability to identify and manage various risks and interinstitutional cooperation. 
 
The mission assessed that, in spite of an unfavourable and challenging economic environment due to the 
international financial crisis, the BoA demonstrates a high level of compliance with the Basel Core Principles for 
Effective Banking Supervision. The work  and improvements of concepts for th e full implementation of risk-based 
supervision were also assessed as positive. 
 
In 2013, the Financial Sector Assessment Program of the IMF and the WB assessed the implementation of 29 of 
the Basel Committee Principles for Effective Supervision. During 2014, and following their recommendations, 
some amendments to the supervisory fra mework were made, notably concerning  recovery resolution plans, loan 
write-offs, the risk–based approach, regulatory capital, the concentration of risks, market discipline 
requirements, guidelines for rest ructuring of banks, and guidelin es for real estate appraisal. 
 
Regulation 10, dated 26 February 2014, "On risk management from large exposure of banks", incorporating 
rules and concepts of the new BoA Regulation 48, dated 31 July 2013 "On capital adequacy ratio" and 
approximating the new EU regime on large exposures (Regulation 575/2013) "On prudential requirements for 
credit institutions and investment firms", was ad opted, and entered into force on 1 January 2015. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
- 90 - 
 
   
Regulation 48, dated 14 July 2010, "On management of risk from open foreign currency positions", which takes 
into consideration the Basel Committee document on Capital Accord (or Basel II) and the EU Directive 
2006/48/EC on calculating open foreign currency positions and foreign exchange risk management. It provides 
new definitions for some items/transactions that will be  part of the structural fo reign currency position, by 
setting out the approval criterion by the BoA, and it adjusts the net open foreign currency position calculation 
approach to the provisions made in the Basel document and the European Directive. 
 
Specific provisions against money laundering: 
The main recent development in this regard was the signing of a cooperation agreement, on 10 June 2014, 
between the BoA and the General Directorate on Preventing Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing of the 
Ministry of Finance, in the framework of combat ing money laundering and terrorism financing. The 
implementation of the recommendations provided by th e Moneyval Committee of the Council of Europe and the 
Financial Action Task Force (FATF) were regularly mo nitored and reported to th e relevant institutions. 
Recent measures in that regard include the guidance of  the risk measurement of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) 
risk approved by the Supervisory Council of the BoA on 28 August 2013, and a new methodology of the 
evaluation of the AML risk, adopted in February 2014. 
Bank deposit insurance scheme:  lek 2.5 million per capita, funded by a contribution of the banks based on 
their total assets. 
 
4.54.  Box 4.5 describes the main features of th e regulatory framework for insurance services and 
their recent evolution. 
Box 4.5 Regulatory framework for insurance 
GATS Commitments 
 
Albania has undertaken commitments in the following su bsectors of insurance with  the following limitations: 
 
Life and non-life insurance: mode 1 unbound except fo r the insurance of non-residents in Albania and for 
foreign investments, mode 2 none, mode 3 none for Market Access (MA), and commercial presence 
restricted to companies having exercised insurance activi ties in their home country for at least five years, 
and a residency obligation for the general representati ve of the company under national treatment (NT). 
 
Marine, Aviation and Transport insurance ("MAT") and rein surance: none for modes 1,  2 and 3 except for five 
years' experience in the home market, and a residenc y obligation for the general representative under NT 
mode 3. 
 
Insurance intermediation and services auxiliary to in surance : none for modes 1, 2 and 3 for MA and NT.  
Recent legislative changes : 
 
Law No. 52, dated 22 May 2014, "On the in surance and reinsurance activity": 
 
This Law determines the principles an d specifies the procedures relating to the establishment, organization, 
management, operation and supervision of insurance, reinsurance and insurance intermediary activity, to 
further enhance the degree of compliance with, and impl ementation of, the EU Directives and Insurance Core 
Principles of the International Association of Insuranc e Supervisors (IAIS). It creates the possibility for the 
application of risk-based supervision, which is a shift from the current supervisory philosophy of the 
insurance market in the country. 
 
Law No. 54/2014, of 29 May 2014, amending Law No. 9572 of 3 July 2006 "On the Financial Supervisory 
Authority": 
 
 reinstates the AFSA Board's powers regarding its institutional governance, in order to be able to 
effectively respond to the superv isory and regulatory process; 
 strengthens AFSA's requirements with  regard to its relations with other supervisory and enforcement 
authorities in the areas of anti-money la undering and counter-terrorism financing; 
 clarifies the protection mechanism for Board me mbers and AFSA employees when exercising their 
tasks in good faith, in order to strengthen th eir independence and integrity on the job; and 
 strengthens AFSA's financial independence and accoun tability by providing for the establishment of a 
reserve fund, by specifying more clearly how revenu es are to be collected and how the excess funds 
are to be returned by the supervised entities, an d by precluding any funding from the state budget. 
 WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
- 91 - 
 
  Law No. 10455 of 27 February 2011, amending Law No. 10076 of 12 February 2009 "On compulsory 
insurance within the transport sector": 
 
This Law provides for the tariff liberalization of comp ulsory insurance premiums in the transport sector, 
removing the fixed tariff regime and allowing insura nce companies to self-determine their compulsory 
insurance premiums, in accordance with the condit ions and requirements of the insurance market. 
Supervisory authorities: 
 
Institution responsible for licensing, regulation and supervision: the Financial Supervisory Authority, which is 
the single supervisory authority and the only regulator of this market according to Law No. 9572, dated 
3 July 2006, "On the Financial Supervisory Authority", as amended, and Law No. 52, dated 22 May 2014, 
"On the insurance and re insurance activity". 
 
Institution responsible for competition policy issues: National Competition Authority. 
Preferential and bilateral policies: 
 
Preferential arrangements affe cting insurance services: none. 
 
Bilateral agreements and MOUs with: 
 
- the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA); th e Macedonian Insurance Supervision Agency (ISA); 
the Central Bank of the Republic  of Kosovo (CBRK); the Agency for Supervision of Fully Funded 
Pension Insurance of Macedonia (MAPAS); and the Eu ropean Security and Market Authority (ESMA). 
Licensing:   
 
The licensing process of the insurance activity is regulated by Law No. 52, dated 22 May 2014, "On the 
insurance and reinsurance activity". Foreign-owned comp anies wishing to carry out business activity in the 
territory of Albania may do so either by establishing a subsidiary (Article 14) or through a branch registered 
in the Republic of Albania, in acco rdance with Article 42 of the Law. 
 
Criteria for assessing applications for insurance licence: Article 42, pa r a g r a p h  6 ,  i t e m  b )  o f  t h i s  L a w  
stipulates that the Financial Supervisory Authority shall refuse to approve an application for licensing a 
foreign insurance company branch in the absence of reci procity. In this context, lack of reciprocity shall 
mean that the supervisory standards are not of the same level as the Albanian supervisory framework. The 
aim of this reciprocity provision is to ensure stabilit y in the domestic insurance market and ensure effective 
supervision of all the operators in this market. 
 
Criteria are based on technical and financial capaciti es, minimum capital requirem ents, business plans and 
risk management. 
 
Compatibility of life and/or non-life insurance licences: 
 
The licence for life assurance activity is granted separate ly from a licence for non-life assurance, pursuant to 
the insurance classes foreseen by Annex I, Section B of the Law. 
 
Differential treatment for foreigners  in the licensing process: none. 
 
Limitation on number of providers: none.  
 
Licencing authority: the Financial Supervisory Authority. 
 
Maximum processing time for applications: 
The maximum processing time for both of the types is 12 months from the date when the application for 
licence to carry out the insurance activity is received. 
 
Period of validity of a licence: unlimited. 
 
Restrictions on selling or disposing of licences: Licences are non-transferable and not purchasable.  
Prudential regulations: 
 
Differences of treatment between state-owned firms,  other domestically-owned  firms, foreign-owned 
branches, and foreign-ow ned subsidiaries: none. 
Recognition of home country supervision of foreign insurance companies: 
 
An insurance company from a foreign country shall carry out insurance activity in the Republic of Albania WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
- 92 - 
 
  only through a branch registered in the Republic of  Albania or as a subsidiary. The provisions on the 
supervision of domestic insurance companies apply, mutatis mutandis , to the supervision of other persons, 
including branches of insurance companies from foreig n/EU member countries. In the case of EU member 
States, the Law stipulates that an insurance company carrying out insurance activity under specific classes in 
a member State may also carry out insurance activity under the same classes in the Republic of Albania, 
either directly or through its branch . However, the provisions of the Law that are related to direct insurance 
provided by an insurance company from a Member State in the Republic of Al bania, shall be applicable as of 
the date the Republic of Albania becomes a member of the EU and, as a consequence, the rest of the 
regulation of the direct insurance activity will ta ke place after the accession of Albania to the EU. 
Minimum capital requirements to obtain a licence: lek 260 million for non-life, lek 370 million for life.  
 
Administrative allocation of insurance services: there are no pricing regulations in general insurance or in 
compulsory motor insurance. 
 
Approval required for life and non- life premiums and products: none. 
 
4.55.  Box 4.6 describes the main features of the regulatory framework for securities and stock 
exchanges services and its recent evolution. 
Box 4.6 Regulatory regime for securities and stock exchanges, 2012 
GATS commitments 
Albania has undertaken commitments in the followi ng subsectors with the following limitations: 
 
- trading for own account or for the account of cu stomers of money market s instruments, foreign 
exchange. Mode 1 unbound for MA and none fo r NT, none for modes 2 and 3, MA and NT. 
 
- trading for own account or for the account of custom ers of derivatives including futures and options, 
exchange rates and interest rate instruments, transferable securities and other instruments including 
bullion: none for modes 1,  2 and 3 for MA and NT. 
 
- participation in all kinds of securities: none for modes 1, 2 and 3 for MA and NT. 
 
- money broking: none for modes 1, 2 and 3 for MA and NT. 
 
- asset management: none for modes 1, 2 and 3 for MA and NT. 
 
Supervisory authority and licensing organ : Financial Supervisory Authority (Law No. 9572, dated 3 July 
2006, "On the Financial Supervisory Authority", as amended, and Law No. 9879, dated 21 February 2008, 
"On securities").  
Licensing: 
 
The licensing process of a stock exchange is determ ined in Articles 78, 79 and 80 of Law No. 9879, dated 
21 February 2008, "On securities". 
 
General criteria: 
 
Securities dealers: 
 
- Any company who wants to carry out transactions with securities must be established as a joint-stock 
company incorporated in the Republic of Albania.  
 
- In the case of a natural person, the application to acquire a license to carry out transactions with 
securities shall be accompanied by a document certifying the fulfilment of one of the following 
conditions: 
 
 completion of postgraduate training in the area of financial investments or financial analysis for 
a period of not shorter than 1 (one) year; 
 
 professional experience, inside or outside the co untry, for a period of not less than 3 (three) 
years in the area of providing advice in relation to securities. 
 
The natural person must: a) not be a person subject to any conviction for economic crimes committed inside 
or outside the territory of the Republic of Albania,  including fraud and counter feiting; b) not be an 
administrator, manager or controller of a company ag ainst which bankruptcy proceedings have started or, WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
- 93 - 
 
  which has gone bankrupt; c) not be simultaneously a staff member and a member of the supervisory board 
or of the board of management in another brokerage or intermediary company; d) be resident in the 
Republic of Albania or have a valid permit of residence issued by the competent bodies; e) have a sufficiently 
sound financial condition to meet his respon sibilities; and f) enjo y a good reputation. 
 
Asset managers: 
 
Assets managers are regulated by Law No. 10198, of 10 December 2009, "On collective investment 
undertakings". 
 
Pursuant to this Law, at least two executive members of the board of directors of the management company 
must have the professional knowledge and experience  required for managing the management company's 
operations. Those members must meet all the following criteria: 
 
 have full legal capacity to enter into legal transactions; 
 have a clean criminal record; 
 be fit and proper to hold the position in accordance with Article 18 of the Law; 
 have at least three years of wo rking experience in a profession al, managerial or independent 
position in a financial institution, and have be en a member of the governing bodies of such 
institutions; or be licensed or approved by the FSA to practice the prof ession of investment 
adviser in the Republic of Albania; 
 have qualifications and certificates from vocational programs recognized by the FSA or other 
counterpart institutions, certifying their professional  capacities in the area of investment fund and 
portfolio management; 
 take a test on their knowledge of their relevant  field and legislation, in accordance with FSA-
specified rules. 
 
Every person who is, or is to be, a significant owner, me mber of the board of director s, or auditor in, or with 
respect to, a management company must be fit and proper to hold the particular position. 
 
Stock exchange: it is worth noting that, for the time being, there are no companies listed in Albania, 
although the legal possibility to do so exists through the Law "On securities" (Articles 78, 79 and 80 of Law 
No. 9879, dated 21 February 2008, "On securities").  
Additional criteria for foreign firms: 
 
Foreign securities dealers. Only through an agent esta blished in Albania (the agent does not need to have 
the Albanian nationality nor to be a physical person) or through a subsidiary (Decision No. 55 of the AFSA 
Board of 30 March 2011, amended by Decision No. 123 of 25 November 2013). 
 
Stock exchanges organized under foreign law: In accordance with Article 3 of Regulation No. 120, dated 
2 October 2008, "On the licensing and supervision of the securities exchange", the shares of a company 
operating as a stock exchange in the territory of Al bania may also be owned by a foreign stock exchange. 
Owners of the stock exchange shall be legal persons esta blished in Albania or in a country of the EU or the 
OECD. 
 
Foreign asset managers: none (same treatment as Albanian nationals).  
Period of validity of a licence:  indefinite. 
Transferability of licences: not transferable.  
Limitation of the number of providers: none.  
Restrictions on foreigners buying and selling on the stock market:  A foreign issuer is a securities 
issuer whose seat is registered outside the Republic of Albania. A foreign issuer may issue securities in the 
Republic of Albania by a public offering only throug h an authorized company that the foreign issuer has 
engaged to act as an issuing agent. The authorized company may be a stockbroker company or a bank that 
has received from the authorities the license to perform securities transactions. The application for approval 
of the prospectus of the issue of securities of a foreign issuer shall be filed on behalf of the foreign issuer by 
the authorized company. 
Operating conditions: 
 
Requirements to use international accounting and disclosure standards: according to Law No. 9228 of 
29 April 2006 "On accounting and financial statements", any profitable entity is obliged to maintain accounts 
and prepare and publish financial statements, in acco rdance with international accounting and disclosure 
standards. 
Provisions on shareholders' rights in companies listed in the stock exchanges and on companies' obligations 
to disclose information: Pursuant to Law No. 9879 of 21 February 2008 "On securities", all the issuers of 
listed securities shall promptly inform the public about all information pertaining to circumstances or 
decisions that constitute material facts. All information and facts that can influence the price of securities 
shall be considered as material facts. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
- 94 - 
 
  4.56.  Box 4.7 describes the main features of th e regulatory framework for mutual funds services 
and their recent evolution. 
Box 4.7 Regulatory framework for mutual funds, 2012 
GATS commitments 
Asset management: none for modes 1, 2 and 3 for MA and NT.  
Supervisory authorities for mutual funds: 
Ministry/agency responsible for defining sector policy  and for its supervision:  the Financial Supervisory 
Authority. 
 
Licensing criteria:  The licensing process of collective investment undertakings in the Republic of Albania is 
governed by Law No. 10198 of 10 December 2009 "On collective investment undertakings". 
 
The collective investment undertakings in the Republic  of Albania operate in one of the following forms: 
 
a) As "Investment Funds", which shall be open-ended  undertakings established by contract, offering 
units to the public, as prescribed in Arti cle 54 and other provisions of the Law; 
 
b) As "Investment Companies", which shall be clos e-ended undertakings established as joint-stock 
companies under the legislation in power in the Republic of Albania, that can be either with public or 
with private shares, and whose sole business shall co nsist of investing in accordance with Article 58 
and other provisions of the Law. 
 
A management company cannot start to perform any prom otion, trade, or offer for sale of any units or 
shares of a collective investment undertaking before being issued a license by the FSA. 
 
Additional licensing conditions for foreign companies:  A management company with a registered office 
in an EU country and/or a country recognized, permitted and approved by  the FSA, wishing to establish a 
branch in the Republic of Albania, shall notify the competent authority in the EU country or the permitted 
country. 
 
The management company shall also provide the FSA with  evidence that it is authorized by the competent 
authority of the respective EU country and/or the permit ted country, that it meets the prescribed conditions 
and is authorized to carry out its activities. 
 
Period of validity of a licence:  indefinite. 
Transferability of licences: not transferable. 
Limitation on the number of providers:  none.  
 
4.57.  Box 4.8 describes the main features of the regulatory framework for pension funds services 
and its recent evolution. 
Box 4.8 Regulatory framework for pension funds, 2012 
GATS commitments 
Asset management, such as cash portfolio manageme nt, pension fund management, custodial and trust 
services: none for modes 1, 2 and 3 for MA and NT. 
Recent or planned reforms:  
The FSA, in cooperation with WB experts, is working to amend Law No. 10197, dated 10 December 2009, 
"On the voluntary pension funds". Changes in the Law aim at its alignment with Directive 2003/41/EC of the 
European Parliament and the European Council, of 3 June 2003, "On the activities and supervision of 
institutions for occupational pension", with the principles of supervision of private pension drafted and 
approved by the International Organisation of Pensio n Supervisors (IOPS), and with the OECD Guidelines. 
 
An important development in this market was the introduction of appropriate tax incentives (employer and 
employee contributions to the schemes are recognized as deductible income subject to statutory limits, and 
may be shown in the payrolls) in the 2015 fiscal package. 
 
Supervisory authorities for pension funds:  The Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA)  
 
Licensing criteria: 
A pension fund management company shall not start mark eting, or enter into a pension fund contract with 
anybody, before the Authority has granted a license to  the management company. The applicant has to be a 
registered joint-stock company with capital share fully paid. The Authority shall grant a license only if it is 
satisfied that: 
 WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
- 95 - 
 
   the applicant satisfies the capital adequacy re quirements in the Law (at all times lek 15.625 
million, but if the assets exceeds lek 31.25 million the capital must increase by 0.02% of the value 
of the net assets without exceeding lek 1.250 million); 
 each significant owner, director, ultimate controller, executive director, administrator, and internal 
auditor of the company is fit and proper; 
 the applicant has adequate managerial capacity , including IT infrastructure and operational 
safeguards, to act in a sound and prudent manner in accordance with all the requirements in the 
Law; 
 the applicant has made proper arrangements fo r financial accounting and auditing and will 
maintain satisfactory accounting and other records of its business with adequate systems of 
control; 
 the proposed name does not mislead unit-holders, po tential unit-holders or anyone else likely to 
have dealings  with it; 
 the applicant has sufficient funds to survive and meet capital adequacy requirements during all its 
activities, including the period of time when the business is not profitable; 
 the applicant commits, in writing, to the Authority th at it will always act in the best interests of its 
unit-holders. 
 
Additional licensing conditions for foreign companies:  
Apart from the requirements listed above for obtaining a licence, fore ign companies must also submit a 
declaration from the applicant's home country supervisory authority if the applicant is a subsidiary of a 
foreign financial institution or bank that holds a valid license to provide financial services in the foreign 
country. 
 
Period of validity of a licence:  indefinite. 
Transferability of licences: not transferable. 
Limitation on the number of providers:  none. 
 
4.6  Maritime transport services 
4.58.   The main economic data for maritime transport are described in Table 4.9 below. 
Table 4.9 Main economic data for ma ritime transport in Albania (2015) 
 
 
Fleet Vessels (2015) Tonnage 
(2015-DWT) Geographic deployment 
(%) 
Number % of  
world fleet tonnes % of  
world fleet Bilateral 
trade Cross trade 
National flag 6714 .. 83,000 0.005% .. .. 
Of which foreign 
controlled none .. .. .. .. .. 
Beneficially owned 
fleet under foreign 
flags 3015 .. 101,000 0.01% .. .. 
 
 
Merchandise trade Volume (tonnes, except for 
containers: TEU) Value % of Albania’s international 
trade  
Imports Exports Imports 
c.i.f Exports f.o.b Imports Exports 
International 
maritime freight 
trade 1,946,820 1,389,000 .. .. .. .. 
Of which containers 42,673 43,027 .. .. .. .. 
Of which transhipped none none .. .. .. - 
Of which dry bulk 1,235,080 772,079 ..  .. .. .. 
Of which liquid bulk .. .. .. .. - - 
Domestic maritime 
freight trade none none none none none none 
Of which conducted 
under a waiver 
regime none none none none none none 
 
Privately managed 
terminals  
Type of cargo   
Managing company(ies)/ Nationality  
Volume (2015)  
Date and duration of the contract 
Romano Port Oil Porto Romano 
Sh.A./Albanian .. .. 
Petrolivera Italo-
Albanese (PIA) Oil PIA/ Italian ..  .. 
                                               
14 Vessels over 100 GRT, source Viewed at: http://stats.unctad.org/fleet  
15 Vessels over 1,000 GRT, source Viewed at: http://stats.unctad.org/fleetownership  WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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Fleet Vessels (2015) Tonnage 
(2015-DWT) Geographic deployment 
(%) 
Number % of  
world fleet tonnes % of  
world fleet Bilateral 
trade Cross trade 
East terminal DPA Bulk (general) 
Cargo German Exp: 265,928 tons 
Imp: 184,773 tons June 2013 for 35 years 
Container Terminal 
Durres Port Authority Containers KURUM/Turkish Exp:42,673 TEU 
Imp: 43,027 TEU February 2013 for  
35 years 
AFTO (Albanian Ferry 
Terminal Operator) Passenger AFTO/German Imp:371,961 pax 
Exp: 298,501 pax September 2013 for  
25 years 
Source:  UNCTAD and information prov ided by the Albanian authorities. 
4.59.  The cargo and passenger traffic of the main Albanian ports are detailed in Tables 4.10 and 
4.11 below. 
Table 4.10 Cargo traffic in Albanian ports, 2010-2014 
Thousand tons 
  2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 
 Total 4,169.0 4,067.0 3,983.9 4,001.0 4,066.2 
 - Import 2,786.0 2,668.0 2,540.0 2,234.0 2,383.5 
 - Export 1,362.0 1,388.0 1,444.0 1,767.0 1,682.7 
1 Port of Durres 3,406.0 3,475.3 3,516.0 3,648.0 3,717.4 
  - Import 2,086.6 2,158.0 2,168.0 1,937.0 2,111.9 
  - Export 1,319.0 1,317.3 1,348.4 1,711.0 1,605.6 
        
2 Port of Vlora 317.4 200.6 109.3 63.5 97.6 
  - Import 317.4 200.6 109.3 60.5 73.8 
  - Export 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 23.9 
        
3 Port of Saranda 70.9 23.8 13.3 15.7 16.6 
  - Import 70.9 23.8 13.3 15.7 16.6 
  - Export 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 
        
4 Port of Shengjin 375.1 367.0 345.0 273.3 234.6 
  - Import 311.0 286.0 250.0 220.6 181.3 
  - Export 42.8 70.6 95.2 52.7 53.3 
Source: Information provided by the Albanian authorities.  
Table 4.11 Passenger traffic in  Albanian ports (2010-2014) 
  2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 
  Total 1,119,803 1,165,769  1,101,025  1,009,186 1,094,569  
1 Durres 834,040 853,748 798,524 717,399 774,681 
2 Vlore 165,227 190,228 190,820 159,625 156,407 
3 Sarande 116,069 121,793 111,681 132,162 163,481 
4 Shengjin 4,467 0 0 0 0 
I Depart from 574,103 591,303  559,385  509,555 559,090  
1 Durres 426,265 432,602 403,256 359,716 394,983 
2 Vlore 88,225 97,626 100,262 83,379 82,737 
3 Sarande 57,887 61,075 55,867 66,460 81,370 
4 Shengjin 1,726 0 0   
II Arrived in 545,700 574,466  541,640  499,631 535,479  
1 Durres 407,775 421,146 395,268 357,683 379,698 
2 Vlore 77,002 92,602 90,558 76,246 73,670 
3 Sarande 58,182 60,718 55,814 65,702 82,111 
4 Shengjin 2,741 0 0   
Source: Information provided by the Albanian authorities. 
4.60.  The regulatory framework for maritime transport is described in Box 4.9 below. 
Box 4.9 Maritime Transport Regulatory Framework 
GATS commitments: 
- Albania has undertaken additional commitments on acce ss to/use of port services (pilotage/towing and 
tug assistance/provisioning, fuelling and watering/g arbage collection and ballast waste disposal/port 
captain's services/navigation aids/shore based operational services essential to ship operations including 
communication, water and electrical suppliers, emer gency repair facilities, and anchorage, berth and 
berthing services); WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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- Albania has undertaken full commitme nts (none for the first three mode s of delivery both for market 
access and national treatment) for rental of vessel wi th crew services, maintenance and repair of vessel 
services, and supportin g services for maritime transport services16. 
Applied regime: 
Cabotage: cabotage is reserved fo r Albanian and EU flag carriers. 
 
Registration policy: 
 
- The registration policy is determined by the maritime code of Albania (Law No. 9251 of 8 July 2004), 
Law No. 9254 of 15 July 2004 "On the ratification of the UN convention on the conditions for the 
registration of ships", and by the Council of Ministers Decision No. 462 of 9 July 2014 "On the register of 
vessels in Albania". 
 
- These regulations do not im pose any nationality or ownership requ irements/limitations to register a 
vessel under the Albanian flag. The only requirements  are linked to technical and safety considerations. 
 
- Flying the Albanian flag does not impose any nationality requirement regarding the crew except for the 
shipmaster, who has to have either the Albanian nati onality or be a citizen of an EU member State. 
Foreign seafarers can be employed aboard Albanian flagged ships provided that they have a residency 
and a work permit and that their competency certif icates are recognized by the Albanian maritime 
administration. This recognition is subject to reciprocity. 
 
Access to ports policy: The treatment of ships in Albanian  ports, notably in Durres, the main port, is the same 
for all the nationalities. Ho wever, in the ports of Shengjin, Vlora an d Saranda, the Albanian flag enjoys a 
rebate of 50% on the quay's tariff.  
 
Bilateral and plurilateral agreements: There are different  bilateral agreements with different EU and non-EU 
countries that provide national treatment to Albanian flag ships, but there are no cargo-sharing agreements. 
 
Onshore activities policy: There are no specific restrictions for all port  and offshore services. 
Competition policy : Competition policy is a horizontal policy in Albania. There is no maritime specific 
legislation or peculiarities. 
Support policy: 
 
There is no specific support policy, such as tonnage ta x, tax breaks, cargo reservations or second registry.  
Security policy: 
 
National regime: Maritime security in  ships and ports of the Republic of Albania is implemented according to 
the SOLAS Convention (ISPS Code) and Law No 168/2013 "On ship and ports security in Albania", and different 
by-laws. All ports of the Republic of  Albania have their own security asse ssments and plans. They have their 
own security forces for the implementation of legislation and for the enhancement of maritime security in ports 
(including an authorized economic operator regime). 
 
Bilateral agreements: none.  
 
4.7  Air transport services 
4.61.  The main economic data and the regulatory  framework for aviation services in Albania are 
described in Box 4.10 below. 
Box 4.10 Main economic data and regula tory framework for aviation services 
Generic economic data 
Scheduled airlines: No domestic airlines for the time being. However, two start- ups, Albanian Airways and 
Albania Wings, have applied for an aircraft operat ing certificate. These requests are currently under 
consideration. 
Number of passengers (departures and arrivals) handled by the airport system (2014): 1.81 million. 
Total tonnage of cargo handled by the airport system (2014): 2,324 tons. 
                                               
16 As defined in CPC 745**. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
- 98 - 
 
  Maintenance and repair: No repair stations certified by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) or by the 
European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). 
Computer reservation systems presen t in Albania: Amadeus, Galileo. 
GATS commitments: 
Albania has full commitments (none fo r the first three modes of delivery both for market access and national 
treatment) for aircraft repa ir and maintenance services. 
 
Albania has listed an MFN exemption for the sales and ma rketing of air transport services and for computer 
reservation services regarding preferential market ac cess resulting from bilateral air transport agreements. 
Applied regime 
Aircraft repair and maintenance: 
- There is no regulation constraining the national airlines to have their planes repaired and maintained in 
domestic facilities. 
 
- There are no sector-specific limitations on the establ ishment of foreign maintenance repair and overhaul 
(MRO) providers. 
Computer reservation services: 
- There are no regulations granting a monopoly to  a particular CRS supplier, or prescribing the 
compulsory use of a supplier. 
Selling and marketing: 
There is no specific regulation preventing or limiting the sales by foreign airlines of their own tickets through 
whatever channel (online, airports counters city offices). This situation is not affected  by air services bilateral 
agreements. 
Ground-handling services: 
Tirana Airport Partners has the monopoly of ground handling services at Tirana airport until 2025, as 
per the concession granted by law to them. 
 
- Self-handling, mutual handling and third party handling are not allowed. This situation is not affected by 
air services bilateral agreements. 
 
- Albania has transposed EU Council Directive 96/67 EC and will apply its liberalizing provisions when 
Tirana airport reaches the required level of traffic. 
Airport services: 
Tirana International Airport, the only international airport in Albania, is  privately managed via a 20-year 
concession running from 2005 to 2025 granted to Tirana International Airport SHPK /Tirana Airport Partners. 
Tirana Airport Partners is composed of three sharehol ders: AviAlliance GmbH, DEG Deutsche Investitions - und 
Entwicklungsgesellschaft, and the Al banian-American Enterprise Fund. 
Slots: the slot allocation process in Albania is governed by a regulation which is a transposition of Council 
Regulation (EEC) 95/93 "On common rules for the allocation of slots at community airports" and its 
amendment, and which is based on the principles gove rning the system of slot allocation (IATA Worldwide 
Scheduling Guidelines). 
Commercial aviation: 
National establishment rules: 
 
These rules are contained in three pieces of legislation, namely the Air Code of Albania, Minister Ordinance No. 
17, dated 2 September 2010, "On the applicable rules for the operation of air services", as amended - that 
transposes EU Regulation 1008/2008 - and the Minister  Orders transposing EU Regulation 216/2008 and its 
Implementing Rules. They thus impo se a majority ownership and effective control by EU and/or Albanian 
interests. 
 
- No specific air charter policy. 
 
- No specific all cargo policy. 
 
4.62.  Table 4.12 below describes the main characteristics of the air services agreements signed 
by Albania. During the period under review, 2010-2015, Albania has signed six more agreements, with Singapore, Brazil, Qatar, United Arab Emir ates, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, respectively. These 
agreements have all entered into force, except that  with Singapore which has still to be ratified by 
the parliament, and with Saudi Arabia which still has to be approved by the Council of Ministers before going through the parliamentary process. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
- 99 - 
 
  Table 4.12 Albania's plurilateral and bilatera l air services agreements and their main 
characteristics 
Partner 
Date 
Entry into 
force 
5th1 
7th2 
Cabotage3 
Coop4 
Designation5 
Withholding 
Pricing 
Capacity 
Stat 
ALI 
Austria 18.03.1993  Y  N N N M SOEC  DA PD Y 10.0  
China 28.03.1972  N N Y N S n/a DA PD N 7.0 
Czech Republic 20.05.1958  N  N N N S n/a n/a PD N 1.0  
Germany 22.04.1992  N N N N M SOEC  DA PD Y 4.0 
Serbia 23.11.1956  N  N N N S n/a n/a PD N 1.0  
Slovenia 10.11.1992  N N N N M SOEC  DA PD Y 4.0 
Turkey 26.05.2003  N  N N Y M SOEC  DD PD Y 13.0  
United Kingdom 30.03.1994  N N N N M SOEC  DD B1 Y 14.0 
United States of 
America 24.09.2003 05.04.2004 Y  N N Y M SOEC  DD FD N 28.0  
ECAA17 09.06.2006  Y Y Y N M COI FP FD N 43 
Singapore 19.01.2015  Y  N N Y M PPOB  FP FD N 38  
Brazil   Y N N N M PPoB FP FD Y 32 
Qatar   Y  N N N S SOEC  DA PD Y 6  
United Arab 
Emirates   Y N N Y M SOEC  FP FD Y 26 
Kuwait  Y  N N N M SOEC  DA PD Y 10  
Saudi Arabia   Y N N N M SOEC  FP PD Y 20 
 
1   S (single); M (multiple). 
2  SOEC (Substantial Ownership and Effective Co ntrol); PPoB (Principal Place of Business); (COI) 
Community of Interest; n/a (not available). 
3  DA (Double Approval); DD (Double Disapproval); CoO (Country of Origin); ZP (Zone Pricing); FP (Free 
Pricing); n/a (not available). 
4   PD (Pre-Determination); B1 (B ermuda I); FD (Free determination ); O (Other); n/a (not available). 
5   Air Liberalization Index. 
Source: Information provided by the Albanian authorities. 
4.8  Road transport services 
4.63.  The main economic indicators of the road  transport services sector are described in Box 
4.11 below. 
Box 4.11 Main economic indicators of road transport 
Road transport 
Road freight transport 
Fleet (2014): 46,000 trucks (of which 14,400 over 3.5 tons) and 3,900 trailers 
Volume (million tonnes/km 2014): 2.076 (+6.5% as compared to 2013), of which 5.8% of transit traffic  
Road passenger transport 
Fleet (buses and vans, 2014): 20,200 
Volume (million passengers/km, 2014): 23.1 (+5% as compared to 2013) 
 
4.64.  The main characteristics of the regulatory framework for the road transport services sector 
are described in Box 4.12 below. 
Box 4.12 Road transport regulatory framework 
GATS commitments 
- Albania has full commitments for consumption abroad  and commercial presence for market access and 
                                               
17 The European Common Aviation Agreement (ECAA) is  a plurilateral aviation agreement grouping the 
European Union and its member States on the one hand  and Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the FYROM, 
Iceland, Norway, Serbia, Montenegro, an d Kosovo on the other. It is aimed at transposing in the medium term 
the EU single aviation market.  For a complete analysis of this agreement see S/C/W/270/Add.2 dated 28 September 2007, pages 95 to 104. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
- 100 - 
 
  national treatment for international passenger and freight transport. The cross-border mode remains 
unbound. 
 
- Albania also undertook full commitments (none for th e first three modes of delivery both for market 
access and national treatment) for the rental of commercial vehicles with operators, maintenance and 
repair of road transport equipment, and supporti ng services for road transportation services.18 
 
- Albania has listed an MFN exemption to cover its existing and future bilateral road transport agreements, 
including road-rail transport agreements.  
Applied regime 
Establishment/domestic regulatory framework : 
Licensing requirements: 
 
- Domestic transport of passengers is  regulated through licences grante d at municipal level, except for 
occasional transport services which are regulated at th e level of the region/district. Domestic transport of 
goods for third parties and rentals are regulated through licences grante d at municipal level, except for 
the transport of hazardous goods (certificate issu ed by the General Directorate of Road Transport 
Services) and transport by non-stan dard vehicles (license issued by the General Directorate of Road 
Transport Services) (Law No. 8308 of 18 March 1998 "On road transport", as am ended, and Instruction 
No. 15 of 24 July 2007 "On criteria and procedures for is suing licences, authorizations and certificates for 
activities in the road  transport sector"). 
 
- There are no restrictions to the establishm ent of foreign-owned trucking companies. 
 Licensing criteria: Individuals or legal entities applying for a license for the road transport of 
passengers and goods must prove they  meet the following conditions: 
 
a) Good reputation; 
b) Adequate financial situation; 
c) Professional competence; 
d) Have an effective and stable establishment in Albania (new criteria based on Regulation (EC) No 
1071/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council. 
 The license, transport permit (authorization) and ce rtificate are not transfer able from the holder to 
another operator. 
 The license holder engaged in an activity for which he/she is licensed or authorized, may enter into 
a sub-contractual agreement with a third party, but not for more than 35% of the activity. The 
holder of license or authorization is liable for meeting the license/authorization conditions, and this 
liability also extends to the activity performed by the sub-contractor. 
 If the transport operator fails to collect the lice nse/authorization/certificate within 60 days from its 
issuance, it shall be revoked. In the case of inter-urban transport lines for passengers, the 
competent authority in the ministry shall notify the municipality which has issued that 
authorization to the operator. 
 A license/authorization/certificate shall be annulled upon the request of the transport operator. In 
the case of regular transport lines for passenge rs, the competent authority which has issued the 
license/authorization/certificate shall be notified at least two months prior to the termination of the 
activity. The annulment request of the license/authorization/certificate shall state the date of 
activity cessation and the reasons for it. 
Capacity regulation: Road transport - there are no limitations for operating in the regular or 
occasional transport for passengers and for the transport of goods. 
In intercity (or inter-urban) transport for passenger s, on regular bus lines between districts, only 
one company for the respective regular line is a llowed. In addition, one company can cover more 
than one regular line. 
Pricing regulation: 
 
- Road freight prices are free. 
- For social reasons, road passenger tariffs are su bject to a maximum pricin g regulation (Council of 
Ministers Decision No. 66 of 7 February 2007). 
International regulatory framework : 
Bilateral agreements: with Poland (1990), United Kingdom (1993), Italy (1993), Russia (1993), Romania 
(1993), Denmark (1994), Croatia (1994), Netherlands (1994), Sweden (1995), Hungary (1996), Germany 
(1996), Greece (1997), FYROM (1998), France (1999), Bulgaria (1999), Luxemburg (1999), Turkey (2000), 
Austria (2005), Slovenia (2007), and Switzerland (2008).  
 
                                               
18 As defined by CPC item 744. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
- 101 - 
 
  Relationship with the EU: Bilateral international traffic remains governed by the bilateral road transport 
agreement signed with individual EU member States (see above for the list and below for the quotas). The EU 
single market for road transport package will apply only if and when Albania has become an EU member State. 
It is therefore not part of the acquis  to be approximated. However, "internal" EU road transport regulations are 
part of the acquis . This is the case of Regulation No. 1072/2009 "On cabotage". Cabotage is, in principle, 
forbidden, but can be allowed on a case-by-case basis with  a special permit granted by the Ministry of Transport 
(Law No. 8308 of 18 March 1998, as amended). The EU Licensing Regulation (No. 1071/2009) and its 
requirement of an effective and stable establishment has been transposed into Albanian law by the Council of 
Ministers Decision No. 928 of 18 November 2015. This is also the case of Directive 2006/22/EC "On minimum 
conditions for the implementation of Council Regulations" (EEC) No. 3820/85 and (EEC) No. 3821/85 
"Concerning social legislation relating to road transp ort activities"; Directive 2003/59/EC of 15 July 2003 "On 
the initial qualification and periodic training of drivers of certain road vehicles for the carriage of goods or 
passengers", amending Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3820/85 and Council Directive 91/439/EEC, and repealing 
Council Directive 76/914/EEC; Regulation (EC) N o. 1072/2009 of 21 October 2009 "O n common rules for 
access to the international road haulage market"; and D irective 2010/40/EU of 7 July 2010 "On the framework 
for the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems in th e field of road transport and for interfaces with other 
modes of transport". 
Plurilateral/regional agreements (if any): EC MT multilateral quota system, Interbus; EU Acquis . 
 
4.65.  Table 4.13 below details the quotas negotiat ed in the framework of the bilateral agreements 
for 2015. 
Table 4.13 Quotas negotiated in the framew ork of the bilateral agreements for 2015 
State Quantity State Quantity 
Austria  Kosovo  
Bilateral + Transit 1,000 For third countries 200 
Truck Euro 1 200 Latvia  
Truck Euro 2 100 Bilateral + Transit 70 
Belgium  For third countries 30 
Bilateral + Transit 200 Montenegro  
Croatia  For third countries 350 
Bilateral 500 Macedonia/FYROM  
Transit 1,000 For third countries 200 
Cyprus  Netherlands  
Bilateral + Transit 50 Bilateral + Transit 200 
Czech Republic  For third countries 100 
Bilateral + Transit 200 Poland  
For third countries 50 Bilateral + Transit 500 
France  Romania  
Bilateral + Transit 500 Bilateral 500 
Truck Euro1, Euro2, annual 20 Transit 500 
Greece  Serbia  
Bilateral + Transit with one passage 500 Bilateral Euro 2 500 
Bilateral + Transit with multi passage, 
2 years 2,500 Bilateral + Transit 500 
Germany  For third countries 200 
Bilateral + Transit 550 Slovakia  
Bilateral + Transit Ro-Ro 150 Bilateral + Transit 250 
Bilateral + Transit Ro-Ro Euro 1 50 Slovenia  
Bilateral + Transit Ro-Ro Euro 2 50 For third countries 300 
Bilateral + Transit Ro-Ro Euro 3 50 Spain  
Bilateral + Transit Euro 1 30 Bilateral + Transit 300 
Bilateral + Transit Euro 2 20 For third countries 100 
Hungary  Turkey  
Bilateral + Transit without road tax 800 For third countries 600 
Bilateral + Transit with road tax 700 CEMT/ECMT Authorizations  
Italy  (Annual, monthly)  
Bilateral 7,000   
Trailer 5,200   
Truck Euro 3 5,300   
Truck Euro 4 500   
 
Source: Information provided by the Albanian authorities. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
- 102 - 
 
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  5  APPENDIX TABLES 
Table A1.1 Merchandise exports by HS chapter, 2010-2014 
HS 
section HS chapter 2010  2011  2012  2013 2014  
Total (€ million) 1,170  1,401  1,532  1,756 1,832  
 (Per cent of total) 
01 Live animals and products  1.4 1.2 1.4 0.7 0.9  
02 Vegetable products 2.0 2.3 2.3 2.7 3.2 
03 Fats and oils 0.1  0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0  
04 Prepared food, beverages and tobacco 2.3 2.1 2.1 2.4 2.4 
05 Mineral products 27.8  29.9 35.7 40.3 33.6  
  HS 27 Mineral fuels, mineral oils and 
products of their distillation 18.0 21.2 26.6 31.0 25.3 
  HS 26 Ores, slag and ash 6.9  5.6 5.3 6.1 4.8  
  HS 25 Salt; sulphur; earths and 
stone; plastering materials, lime and 
cement 2.9 3.1 3.8 3.2 3.4 
06 Chemicals and products thereof 0.4  0.8 0.4 0.5 0.7  
07 Plastics and rubbe r 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.7 
08 Raw hides and skins; leather, furskins and 
articles thereof 1.6 1.5 1.3 1.3 1.2  
09 Wood, cork, straw 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.7 0.7 
10 Pulp of wood; paper and paperboard 2.0  1.5 1.7 2.5 2.9  
  HS 48 Paper and paperboard 1.3 1.1 1.3 2.0 2.6 
11 Textiles and textile articles  18.7 17.2 15.2 14.4 16.7  
  HS 61 Clothing accessories, knitted or 
crocheted 10.3 9.6 8.7 8.0 9.3 
  HS 62 Clothing accessories, not 
knitted or crocheted 7.7 7.0 6.1 5.9 6.8  
12 Footwear, headgear, etc. 15.7 15.4 13.9 13.7 16.9 
  HS 64 Footwear, gaiters and the like;  
parts of such articles 15.7 15.4 13.9 13.7 16.8  
13 Articles of stone, plaster, cement 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.4 
14 Precious stones and metals, pearls 0.3  0.2 0.1 0.1 0.2  
15 Base metals and articles thereof 19.4 20.4 18.2 14.2 14.2 
  HS 72 Iron and steel 11.6  13.3 11.3 8.5 8.3  
  HS 83 Miscellaneous articles of base 
metal 3.3 2.7 2.7 2.3 2.1 
16 Machinery, electrical equipment 3.9  3.4 3.2 2.9 3.1  
  HS 85 Electrical machinery and 
equipment and parts thereof 3.0 2.9 2.3 2.1 2.3 
17 Transport equipment 0.3  0.5 0.4 0.4 0.5  
18 Precision instruments 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.3 
19 Arms and ammunition 0.2  0.1 0.2 0.0 0.0  
20 Miscellaneous manufactured articles 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.3 1.4 
21 Works of art, collectors' pieces and antiques 0.1  0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0  
  HS 99 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 
Source: UNSD Comtrade database.      WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  Table A1.2 Merchandise imports by HS chapter, 2010-2014 
HS 
section HS chapter 2010  2011  2012  2013 2014  
Total (€ million) 3,475  3,882  3,798  3,676 3,942  
 (per cent of total) 
01 Live animals and products  3.1 2.9 3.0 2.9 3.0  
02 Vegetable products 5.2 5.1 5.3 5.4 5.3 
  HS 10 Cereals 2.2  2.6 2.5 2.5 2.2  
03 Fats and oils 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.1 1.1 
04 Prepared food, beverages and tobacco 8.7  7.6 8.1 8.6 7.6  
05 Mineral products 15.4 18.8 20.9 18.0 16.3 
  HS 27 Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products 
of their distillation 13.8 17.6 19.9 17.2 15.5  
06 Chemicals and products thereof 8.0 7.6 8.7 9.2 9.2 
  HS 30 Pharmaceut ical products 3.3  3.0 3.2 3.1 3.8  
07 Plastics and rubbe r 3.8 3.6 3.8 4.1 4.0 
  HS 39 Plastics and articles thereof 3.2  3.0 3.2 3.4 3.3  
08 Raw hides and skins; leather, furskins and articles 
thereof 1.8 1.7 1.8 2.2 2.6 
  HS 41 Raw hides and skins (other than 
furskins) and leather 1.6 1.6 1.7 2.1 2.5  
09 Wood, cork, straw 1.5 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.4 
10 Pulp of wood; paper and paperboard 2.8  2.4 2.1 2.6 2.7  
  HS 48 Paper and paperboard 2.5 2.2 1.8 2.2 2.5 
11 Textiles and textile articles  7.6 7.3 7.2 8.3 9.1  
  HS 61 Clothing accessories, knitted or 
crocheted 2.1 2.1 1.9 2.1 2.3 
  HS 62 Clothing accessories, not knitted or 
crocheted 1.6 1.5 1.6 1.9 2.2  
12 Footwear, headgear, etc.  2.0 2.0 2.0 2.2 2.3 
  HS 64 Footwear, gaiters and the like;  parts of 
such articles 1.9 1.9 1.9 2.1 2.2  
13 Articles of stone, plaster, cement 3.1 2.8 2.6 2.6 2.4 
14 Precious stones and metals, pearls 0.1  0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2  
15 Base metals and articles thereof 12.8 12.3 10.3 9.7 10.4 
  HS 72 Iron and steel 5.8  6.2 4.9 4.0 4.6  
  HS 73 Articles of iron or steel 3.6 3.1 2.3 2.5 2.6 
16 Machinery, electrical equipment 14.3  14.2 11.9 11.9 12.7  
  HS 84 Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and 
mechanical appliances 6.7 7.3 6.5 6.5 7.0 
  HS 85 Electrical machinery and equipment and 
parts thereof 7.5 6.9 5.4 5.4 5.8  
17 Transport equipment 5.2 5.9 6.6 6.8 6.4 
  HS 87 Vehicles 4.9  5.7 6.3 5.8 5.8  
18 Precision instruments 1.5 1.2 1.1 0.9 1.1 
19 Arms and ammunition 0.1  0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0  
20 Miscellaneous manufactured articles 1.9 1.7 1.8 1.9 2.0 
21 Works of art, collectors' pieces and antiques 0.0  0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0  
Source: UNSD Comtrade database. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
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  Table A1.3 Merchandise export s by destination, 2010-2014 
(€ million and per cent) 
 2010  2011  2012 2013 2014  
Total (€ million) 1,170  1,401  1,532 1,756 1,832  
 (Per cent of total) 
 America 1.8 1.4 0.8 0.9 0.8 
  United States 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.5 0.6 
  Other America 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.2 
      
 Europe 90.6 95.3 94.8 93.0 93.8 
  EU(28) 70.2 72.9 75.6 76.7 77.4 
   Italy 50.8 53.4 51.1 46.3 52.0 
   Spain 3.4 3.6 9.2 9.8 6.5 
   Malta 0.8 2.4 1.8 6.7 6.2 
   Greece 5.4 5.1 4.4 3.2 3.5 
   Germany 2.8 2.9 3.1 3.8 2.8 
   France 0.9 0.5 0.7 2.1 1.1 
   Bulgaria 1.0 1.2 1.3 0.9 1.1 
   The Netherlands 0.7 0.7 1.0 0.7 0.9 
   Austria 1.0 1.2 1.2 0.5 0.8 
   Cyprus 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 
   Poland 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.3 
   Romania 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 
   Czech Rep. 1.1 0.5 0.3 0.4 0.3 
  EFTA 4.2 2.7 1.0 1.8 0.8 
   Switzerland 4.1 2.7 1.0 1.8 0.8 
  Other Europe 16.2 19.7 18.2 14.5 15.5 
   Serbia 8.3 9.3 8.9 7.5 8.0 
   Turkey 6.0 7.4 6.3 3.7 3.9 
   Former Yugoslav Rep. of Macedonia 1.7 2.1 1.9 1.8 2.1 
   Montenegro 0.0 0.8 0.8 1.3 1.4 
      
 Commonwealth of Inde pendent States (CIS) 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.2 
      
 Africa 1.1 0.5 0.8 0.8 1.2 
   Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 0.7 0.2 0.7 0.6 0.6 
   Egypt 0.3 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.4 
      
 Middle East 0.9 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.4 
      
 Asia 5.6 2.7 3.4 4.8 3.6 
  China 5.5 2.5 2.7 4.6 3.4 
  Japan 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 
  Other Asia 0.1 0.1 0.7 0.2 0.2 
      
 Other 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 
Source: UNSD Comtrade database.      
 WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
- 107 - 
 
  Table A1.4 Merchandise impo rts by origin, 2010-2014 
(€ million and per cent) 
 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 
Total (€ million) 3,475  3,882  3,798 3,676 3,942  
       (Per cent of total) 
       America 3.4 3.8 4.6 4.9 5.3 
  United States 1.6 1.4 2.1 2.4 2.4 
  Other America 1.8 2.3 2.5 2.4 2.8 
   Canada 0.3 0.9 0.8 0.6 1.0 
   Brazil 0.9 0.8 0.9 0.8 0.8 
      
 Europe 80.8 80.8 79.8 79.0 79.2 
  EU(28) 66.5 65.3 63.3 64.2 61.1 
   Italy 28.2 30.5 31.9 33.1 29.8 
   Greece 13.1 10.6 9.5 8.9 9.4 
   Germany 5.6 5.7 6.0 5.8 6.0 
   France 2.2 2.4 1.6 2.6 1.9 
   Spain 1.6 2.1 2.0 1.6 1.7 
   Poland 1.4 1.2 1.3 1.5 1.4 
   Bulgaria 1.8 1.3 1.3 1.7 1.4 
   Austria 1.6 1.8 1.3 1.2 1.2 
   Croatia 1.9 1.3 1.3 1.1 1.1 
   Romania 1.2 1.0 1.1 0.9 1.1 
   United Kingdom 1.5 1.1 1.0 0.8 1.0 
   Hungary 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.8 
   The Netherlands 1.0 0.8 0.5 0.7 0.8 
  EFTA 1.6 2.7 3.0 1.6 3.1 
   Switzerland 1.5 2.6 2.9 1.6 3.1 
  Other Europe 12.7 12.9 13.6 13.2 15.0 
   Turkey 5.7 5.6 5.8 6.4 7.1 
   Serbia 4.7 4.4 5.4 4.1 5.4 
   Former Yugoslav Rep. of Macedonia 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.7 1.5 
      
 Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) 4.9 4.4 5.6 3.0 3.1 
   Russian Federation 2.2 1.9 2.6 2.0 2.1 
      
 Africa 0.6 0.6 0.6 2.8 1.7 
      
 Middle East 1.1 1.2 0.3 0.5 0.7 
      
 Asia 9.1 9.2 8.9 9.5 10.0 
  China 6.3 6.4 6.4 6.8 7.3 
  Japan 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4 
  Other Asia 2.3 2.3 2.0 2.4 2.3 
      
 Other 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.3 0.1 
Source: UNSD Comtrade database.      WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
- 108 - 
 
  Table A3.1 MFN tariff averages by HS 2-digit level, 2015  
HS Description  No. of 
lines Averages 
(%) Ranges 
(%) Share of duty 
free lines 
(%)a SDb CVc 
 Total  9,386  4.2 0 - 15 48.6 5.5 1.3  
01 Live animals 65 4.7 0 - 15 10.8 4.5 0.9 
02 Meat and edible meat offal 248 9.9 2 - 15 0.0 1.4 0.1  
03 Fish and crustaceans, molluscs and 
other aquatic invertebrates 427 0.0 0 100.0 0.0 0.0 
04 Dairy produce; birds' eggs; natural 
honey; edible products of animal origin, not elsewhere specified or included 171
 9.6 0 - 15 1.8 2.0 0.2  
05 Products of animal origin, not 
elsewhere specified or included 20 6.5 0 - 10 35.0 4.8 0.7 
06 Live trees and other plants; bulbs, 
roots and the like; cut flowers and ornamental foliage 41
 7.4 2 - 15 0.0 6.4 0.9  
07 Edible vegetables and certain roots 
and tubers 111 9.6 2 - 15 0.0 2.2 0.2 
08 Edible fruit and nuts; peel of citrus 
fruit or melons 124 10.0 5 - 15 0.0 0.6 0.1  
09 Coffee, tea, maté and spices 50 11.5 0 - 15 4.0 4.9 0.4 
10 Cereals 62 1.9 0 - 2 3.2 0.4 0.2  
11 Products of the milling industry; 
malt; starches; inulin; wheat gluten 71 9.6 0 - 10 4.2 2.0 0.2 
12 Oil seeds and oleaginous fruits; misc 
grains, seeds and fruit; industrial or 
medicinal plants; straw and fodder 74 3.6 0 - 10 39.2 4.2 1.2  
13 Lac; gums, resins and other 
vegetable saps and extracts 14 8.9 2 - 10 0.0 2.8 0.3 
14 Vegetable plaiting materials; 
vegetable products not elsewhere 
specified or included 5 10.0 10 0.0 0.0 0.0  
15 Animal or vegetable fats and oils 
and their cleavage products; 
prepared edible fats; animal or 
vegetable waxes 128 2.3 0 - 10 71.1 4.1 1.8 
16 Preparations of meat, of fish or of 
crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic invertebrates 102
 4.4 0 - 15 62.7 5.9 1.3  
17 Sugars and sugar confectionery 44 6.0 0 - 10 2.3 4.1 0.7 
18 Cocoa and cocoa preparations 27 10.0 10 0.0 0.0 0.0  
19 Preparations of cereals, flour, starch 
or milk; pastry cooks' products 51 6.4 2 - 10 0.0 4.0 0.6 
21 Miscellaneous edible preparations 39 10.2 0 - 15 7.7 5.8 0.6  
22 Beverages, spirits and vinegar 184 9.3 0 - 15 38.0 7.3 0.8 
23 Residues and waste from the food 
industries; prepared animal fodder 64 6.2 0 - 10 23.4 4.5 0.7  
24 Tobacco and manufactured tobacco 
substitutes 21 7.0 2 - 15 0.0 5.5 0.8 
25 Salt; sulphur; earths and stone; 
plastering materials, lime and 
cement 78 3.2 0 - 10 2.6 2.9 0.9  
26 Ores, slag and ash 44 2.0 2 0.0 0.0 0.0 
27 Mineral fuels, mineral oils and 
products of their distillation; 
bituminous substances; mineral 
waxes 112 5.8 0 - 15 32.1 5.0 0.9  
28 Inorganic chemicals; organic or 
inorganic compounds of precious 
metals, of rare-earth metals, of 
radioactive elements or of isotopes 247 1.8 0 - 2 11.3 0.6 0.4 
29 Organic chemicals 456 0.0 0 100.0 0.0 0.0  
30 Pharmaceutical products 50 0.2 0 - 6 96.0 1.2 4.9 
31 Fertilizers 31 1.9 0 - 2 3.2 0.4 0.2  WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
- 109 - 
 
  HS Description  No. of 
lines Averages 
(%) Ranges 
(%) Share of duty 
free lines 
(%)a SDb CVc 
32 Tanning or dyeing extracts; tannins 
and their derivatives; dyes, 
pigments and other colouring 
matter; paints and varnishes; putty 
and other mastics; inks 57 5.2 0 - 6 8.8 1.9 0.4 
33 Essential oils and resinoids; 
perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations 48
 5.7 2 - 6 0.0 1.1 0.2  
34 Soap, organic surface-active agents, 
washing preparations, lubricating 
preparations, artificial waxes, 
prepared waxes, polishing or 
scouring preparations, candles and 
similar articles, modelling pastes, 
dental waxes and dental 
preparations with a basis 29 3.4 0 - 6 31.0 2.7 0.8 
36 Explosives; pyrotechnic products; 
matches; pyrophoric alloys; certain 
combustible preparations 10 3.2 2 - 6 0.0 1.8 0.6  
37 Photographic or cinematographic 
goods 42 2.0 2 0.0 0.0 0.0 
38 Miscellaneous chemical products 149 1.5 0 - 2 22.8 0.8 0.5  
39 Plastics and articles thereof 205 3.7 0 - 6 12.7 2.3 0.6 
40 Rubber and articles thereof 96 7.5 0 - 15 35.4 6.8 0.9  
41 Raw hides and skins (other than 
furskins) and leather 71 5.4 0 - 10 28.2 4.6 0.9 
42 Articles of animal gut (other than 
silk-worm gut) 36 13.3 0 - 15 11.1 4.7 0.4  
43 Furskins and artificial fur; 
manufactures thereof 23 4.3 2 - 15 0.0 4.9 1.2 
44 Wood and articles of wood; wood 
charcoal 178 0.0 0 100.0 0.0 0.0  
45 Cork and articles of cork 12 2.0 2 0.0 0.0 0.0 
46 Manufactures of straw, of esparto or 
of other plaiting materials; basketware and wickerwork 23
 11.1 10 - 15 0.0 2.1 0.2  
47 Pulp of wood or of other fibrous 
cellulosic material; recovered (waste 
and scrap) paper and paperboard 24 0.0 0 100.0 0.0 0.0 
48 Paper and paperboard; articles of 
paper pulp, of paper or of paperboard 149
 0.0 0 100.0 0.0 0.0  
49 Printed books, newspapers, pictures 
and other products of the printing 
industry; manuscripts, typescripts 
and plans 22 0.0 0 100.0 0.0 0.0 
50 Silk 25 0.6 0 - 2 72.0 0.9 1.6  
51 Wool, fine or coarse animal hair; 
horsehair yarn and woven fabric 60 4.3 2 - 10 0.0 3.6 0.8 
52 Cotton 149 0.1 0 - 2 96.0 0.4 4.9  
53 Other vegetable textile fibres; paper 
yarn and woven fabrics of paper 
yarn 34 1.4 0 - 2 29.4 0.9 0.6 
54 Man-made filaments 85 1.3 0 - 10 80.0 3.2 2.4  
55 Man-made staple fibres 143 6.8 2 - 10 0.0 3.9 0.6 
56 Wadding, felt and nonwovens; 
special yarns; twine, cordage, ropes 
and cables and articles thereof 57 3.4 0 - 15 28.1 4.0 1.2  
57 Carpets and other textile floor 
coverings 39 10.0 10 0.0 0.0 0.0 
58 Special woven fabrics; tufted textile 
fabrics; lace; tapestries; trimmings; 
embroidery 51 6.1 0 - 10 39.2 4.9 0.8  
59 Impregnated, coated, covered or 
laminated textile fabrics; textile 
articles of a kind suitable for 
industrial use 42 6.0 0 - 10 40.5 4.9 0.8 WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
- 110 - 
 
  HS Description  No. of 
lines Averages 
(%) Ranges 
(%) Share of duty 
free lines 
(%)a SDb CVc 
60 Knitted or crocheted fabrics 57 6.8 0 - 10 31.6 4.6 0.7  
61 Articles of apparel and clothing 
accessories, knitted or crocheted 147 0.0 0 100.0 0.0 0.0 
62 Articles of apparel and clothing 
accessories, not knitted or crocheted 194 0.0 0 100.0 0.0 0.0  
63 Other made up textile articles; sets; 
worn clothing and worn textile 
articles; rags 76 9.1 0 - 15 10.5 3.3 0.4 
64 Footwear, gaiters and the like; parts 
of such articles 78 10.9 0 - 15 10.3 4.4 0.4  
65 Headgear and parts thereof 12 13.8 10 - 15 0.0 2.2 0.2 
66 Umbrellas, sun umbrellas, walking-
sticks, seat-sticks, whips, riding-
crops and parts thereof 8 14.4 10 - 15 0.0 1.7 0.1  
67 Prepared feathers and down and 
articles made of feathers or of down; 
artificial flowers; articles of human 
hair 8 14.4 10 - 15 0.0 1.7 0.1 
68 Articles of stone, plaster, cement, 
asbestos, mica or similar materials 61 14.6 10 - 15 0.0 1.4 0.1  
69 Ceramic products 45 11.0 2 - 15 0.0 6.0 0.5 
70 Glass and glassware 130 7.2 0 - 15 2.3 5.4 0.7  
71 Natural or cultured pearls, precious 
or semi-precious stones, precious 
metals, metals clad with precious 
metal, and articles thereof; imitation 
jewellery; coin 56 5.5 2 - 15 0.0 5.7 1.0 
72 Iron and steel 344 0.3 0 - 2 86.9 0.7 2.6  
73 Articles of iron or steel 240 6.3 0 - 15 54.6 7.2 1.2 
74 Copper and articles thereof 59 0.0 0 100.0 0.0 0.0  
75 Nickel and articles thereof 18 0.0 0 100.0 0.0 0.0 
76 Aluminium and articles thereof 58 0.0 0 100.0 0.0 0.0  
78 Lead and articles thereof 10 0.0 0 100.0 0.0 0.0 
79 Zinc and articles thereof 11 0.0 0 100.0 0.0 0.0  
80 Tin and articles thereof 6 0.0 0 100.0 0.0 0.0 
81 Other base metals; cermets; articles 
thereof 67 0.0 0 100.0 0.0 0.0  
82 Tools, implements, cutlery, spoons 
and forks, of base metal; parts 
thereof of base metal 98 10.3 10 - 15 0.0 1.1 0.1 
83 Miscellaneous articles of base metal 42 12.5 0 - 15 7.1 5.0 0.4  
84 Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery 
and mechanical appliances; parts 
thereof 874 0.5 0 - 10 89.7 1.8 3.9 
85 Electrical machinery and equipment 
and parts thereof; sound recorders 
and reproducers, television image 
and sound recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles 501
 2.9 0 - 10 58.7 4.3 1.5  
86 Railway or tramway locomotives, 
rolling-stock and parts thereof; 
railway or tramway track fixtures 
and fittings and parts thereof; 
mechanical (including electro-
mechanical) traffic signalling 
equipment of all kinds 29 0.0 0 100.0 0.0 0.0 
87 Vehicles other than railway or 
tramway rolling-stock, and parts and accessories thereof 184
 3.6 0 - 15 42.9 5.6 1.5  
88 Aircraft, spacecraft, and parts 
thereof 21 2.0 2 0.0 0.0 0.0 
89 Ships, boats and floating structures 35 3.1 2 - 15 0.0 3.6 1.2  
90 Optical, photographic, 
cinematographic, measuring, 
checking, precision, medical or 241 1.5 0 - 10 59.8 2.8 1.8 WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
- 111 - 
 
  HS Description  No. of 
lines Averages 
(%) Ranges 
(%) Share of duty 
free lines 
(%)a SDb CVc 
surgical instruments and apparatus; 
parts and accessories thereof 
91 Clocks and watches and parts 
thereof 51 15.0 15 0.0 0.0 0.0  
92 Musical instruments; parts and 
accessories of such articles 30 2.0 2 0.0 0.0 0.0 
93 Arms and ammunition; parts and 
accessories thereof 22 15.0 15 0.0 0.0 0.0  
94 Furniture; bedding, mattresses, 
mattress supports, cushions and 
similar stuffed furnishings; lamps 
and lighting fittings, not elsewhere 
specified or included; illuminated 
signs, illuminated name-plates 77 6.6 0 - 15 50.6 7.3 1.1 
95 Toys, games and sports requisites; 
parts and accessories thereof 62 7.1 0 - 15 46.8 7.4 1.0  
96 Miscellaneous manufactured articles 69 12.1 0 - 15 17.4 5.8 0.5 
97 Works of art, collectors' pieces and 
antiques 7 0.0 0 100.0 0.0 0.0  
a Duty-free tariff lines as a percentage of total tariff lines. 
b Standard deviation. 
c Coefficient of variation.  Note: 2015 tariff schedule is based on HS12 nomenclature consisting of 9,674 tariff lines (at 11-digit tariff line level). 
 
Source: WTO Secretariat calculations, based on data provided by the Albanian authorities. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
- 112 - 
 
  Table A3.2 Tariff lines with applied MFN tariffs exceeding the bound rates, 2015 
Tariff 
code Product descriptions 2015  
Applied 
tariff 
(%)a Bound  
rates  
(%)b 
27073000 Xylol (xylenes) 15 20 or 10c 
      
271099 Waste oils    
27109100   Containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated 
terphenyls (PCTs) or polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) 10 5 or 10c 
27109900   Other 10 5 or 10c 
      
30061030 Sterile surgical or dental adhesion barriers, whether or not 
absorbable 6 0 
      
3706 Cinematographic film, exposed and developed, whether or not 
incorporating soundtrack or consisting only of soundtrack    
370610  Of a width of 35 mm or more    
37061020   Consisting only of soundtrack; negatives; intermediate positives 2 0 
37061099   Other positives 2 0 
      
38247800 Containing perfluorocarbons (PFCs)  or hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), 
but not containing chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) or 
hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) 2 0 
38259010   Alkaline iron oxide for the purification of gas 2 0 
      
  Flat panel displays able to display signals from automatic data-
processing machines with an acceptable level of functionality    
        Colour    
85285931       With a screen of the liquid crystal display (LCD) technology 2 0 
85285939       Other 2 0 
85285970     Other 2 0 or 10c 
      
    Not designed to incorporate a video display or screen    
      Other (other than video tuners)    
85287191 Apparatus with a microprocessor-based device incorporating a 
modem for gaining access to the Internet, and having a function of interactive information exchange, capable of receiving television signals 10 0 
85287199      Other 10 0 
90172039      Marking-out instruments 2 0 or 5c 
a     The 2015 tariff is based on HS12 nomenclature.  
b      Final bound rates are aligned to the 2015 applied tariff schedule (HS12 nomenclature) by the Secretariat.  c      One of the bound duties is higher than applied MFN rates.  Note:  Tariff codes with applied MFN rates exceeding bound rates are identified using the 2015 applied tariff 
schedule (HS 2012) and the bound tariff schedule (HS 2007) using WCO correlation tables between HS 2007 and HS 2012.  
   Source:  WTO Secretariat calculations, based on data provided by the Albanian authorities and the WTO CTS 
database. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
- 113 - 
 
  Table A3.3 Tariff quotas of agricultural prod ucts based on preferential trade agreements 
to which Albania is a party 
(a) Tariff quotas of agricultural products  based on the CEFTA Free Trade Agreement 
 
   2010  2011 
CN code Description  Quota 
(ton/hl) Imported 
quantity Quantity 
used 
(%) Imported 
Quantity Quantity 
used 
(%) 
Montenegro       
0204 Meet of sheep or goats, fresh, chilled or 
frozen 100 0 0.0 0 0.0  
020900 Pig fat and poultry fat 300  0 0.0 0 0.0  
0210 Meat and edible meat offal, salted, in 
brine, dried or smoked 300 0 0.0 0 0.0 
0403 Buttermilk, curdled milk and cream, 
yogurt, kephir and other fermented or acidified milk and cream 100
 0 0.0 0 0.0  
0405 Butter and other fats and oils derived from 
milk; dairy spreads 50 0 0.0 0 0.0 
0406 Cheese and curd 100  0 0.0 0 0.0  
0703 Onions, shallots, garlic, leeks and other 
alliaceous vegetables, fresh or chilled 100 0 0.0 0 0.0 
0708 Leguminous vegetables, shelled or 
unshelled, fresh or chilled 100 0 0.0 0 0.0  
16 Preparations of meat, of fish or of 
crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic 
invertebrates 300 0 0.0 0 0.0 
2007 Jams, fruit jellies, ma rmalades, fruit or nut 
purée and fruit or nut pastes 200 0.4 0.2 0 0.0  
2009 Fruit juices (including grape must) and 
vegetable juices, unfermented and not 
containing added spirit 100 56 56.5 0 0.0 
210500 Ice cream and other edible ice, whether or 
not containing cocoa 100 0 0.0 0 0.0  
2201 Waters, including natural or artificial 
mineral waters and aerated waters, 
without sweetening matter/not flavoured 500 0 0.0 0 0.0 
2202 Waters, including mineral waters and 
aerated waters with sweetening matter/flavoured 500
 24 4.8 24 4.8  
220300 Beer made from malt 1,000  0 0.0 12 1.2 
2208 Undenatured ethyl alcohol; spirits, liqueurs 
and other spirituous beverages 200 0 0.0 0 0.0  
Serbia       
0405 Butter and other fats and oils derived from 
milk; dairy spreads 200 0 0.0 0 0.0 
04061080 Fresh (unripened or uncured) cheese  200 0 0.0 0 0.0  
1001 Wheat and meslin 2,500  1,473  58.9 2500 100.0  
1101 Wheat or meslin flou r 2,500  2,500  100.0  2500 100.0  
110313 Cereal groats and meal of maize (corn)  5,000  398 8.0 50 1.0 
1601 Sausages and similar products, of meat  100 0 0.0 0 0.0  
1902 Pasta or others such as spaghetti, 
macaroni, noodles, lasagne, gnocchi, 
ravioli, cannelloni; couscous 250 227 90.9 46 18.4 
190531 Sweet biscuits 750  11 1.5 0 0.0  
2007 Jams, fruit jellies, marmalades, fruit or nut 
purée and fruit or nut pastes 250 0 0.0 0 0.0 
2009 Fruit juices (including grape must) and 
vegetable juices, unfermented and not containing added spirit 200
 33 16.6 11 5.6  
2104 Soups and broths and preparations  100 6 5.7 2 1.7 
2105 Ice cream and other edible ice 100  100 100.0  51 50.6  
2201 Waters, including natural or artificial 
mineral waters and aerated waters, 
without sweetening matter/not flavoured 200 0 0.0 0 0.0 
2204 Wine of fresh grapes 200  0 0.0 0 0.0  
230990 Preparations of a kind used in animal 
feeding 400 0 0.0 0 0.0 
2203 Beer made from malt 200  0 0.0 0 0.0  
22082012 Cognac 500 0 0.0 0 0.0 
22082026 Grappa 200  0 0.0 0 0.0  WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
- 114 - 
 
     2010  2011 
CN code Description  Quota 
(ton/hl) Imported 
quantity Quantity 
used 
(%) Imported 
Quantity Quantity 
used 
(%) 
220870 Liqueurs and cordials 500 0 0.0 0 0.0 
Former 
Yugoslav 
Republic of 
Macedonia       
040610 Fresh (unripened or uncured) cheese  50 0 0.0 0 0.0  
04069029 Kashkaval 50 0 0.0 0.1 0.2 
0702 Tomatoes, fresh or chilled 150  31 20.6 150 99.9  
0707 Cucumbers and gherkins, fresh or chilled  100 14 13.8 4 4.0 
080810 Apples 3,000  1,853  61.8 35 1.2  
1601 Sausages and similar products, of meat  150 104 69.1 30 19.9 
1602 Other prepared or preserved meat, meat 
offal or blood 100 2 1.9 23 22.8  
1704 Sugar confectionery, not containing cocoa  200 31 15.4 14 6.9 
Croatia       
0403 Buttermilk, curdled milk and cream, 
yogurt, kephir and other fermented or 
acidified milk and cream 50 0 0.0 1 1.5 
040630 Processed cheese, not grated or powdered  100 0 0.0 0 0.0  
040690 Other cheese  100 0 0.0 0 0.0 
2201 Waters, including natural or artificial 
mineral waters and aerated waters, without sweetening matter/not flavoured 100
 0 0.0 0 0.0  
2007 Jams, fruit jellies, marmalades, fruit or nut 
purée and fruit or nut pastes 50 0 0.0 0 0.0 
2009 Fruit juices (including grape must) and 
vegetable juices 200 0 0.0 0 0.0  
22 Beverages, spirits and vinega r 500 0 0.0 0 0.0 
240220 Cigarettes containing tobacco 100  0 0.0 0 0.0  
Source:  Based on data provided  by the Albanian authorities.  
  WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania  
 
- 115 - (b) Tariff quotas of agricultural products based on the Free Trad e Agreement (FTA) between the Republic of Turkey and the Repub lic 
of Albania 
CN code Description 
Quota 
(ton/hl) 2010  2011  2012  2013  2014  2015 Imported 
Quantity 
Quantity 
used (%) 
Imported 
Quantity 
Quantity 
used (%) 
Imported 
Quantity 
Quantity 
used (%) 
Imported 
Quantity 
Quantity 
used (%) 
Imported 
Quantity 
Quantity 
used (%) 
Imported 
Quantity 
Quantity 
used (%) 
040630 Processed cheese, not grated or 
powdered 200 0 0.0 0.1 0.03 0.02 0.01  0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 
040690 Other cheese  100 1 0.6 1 1.1 1 1.3 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 
04071100 Eggs for hatching 5,000,000  0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0  0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 
04071911 
04071919 
0409 Natural honey  100 99 98.8 1 1.2 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 
070200 Tomatoes, fresh or chilled 200  200 100.0  200 100.0  200 100.0  74 36.9 200 100 200 100.0 
070960 Fruits of the genus Capsicum or 
of the genus Pimenta 200 185 92.4 149 74.3 59 29.4 31 15.6 129 64.3 43 21.3 
071080 Other vegetables, frozen 200  0 0.0 0.1 0.04 0 0.0  0 0.0 0 0.0 0.1 0.1 
071290 Other vegetables; mixtures of 
vegetables, dried 200 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0.1 0.03 0 0.0 
071320 Chickpeas  150 1 0.9 2 1.1 2 1.2  0.1 0.1 0 0.0 0 0.0 
071333 Kidney beans, including white 
pea beans 100 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 20 20.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 
071340 Lentils  150 12 7.7 14 9.6 12 7.9  14 9.1 30 19.7 10 6.6 
080232 Walnuts  100 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0.05 0.05 
08024100 Chestnut whether or not shelled 
or peeled 100 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0  0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 
08024200 
080420 Figs 200 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 
080610 Grapes  200 3 1.5 3 1.4 4 1.8  0.2 0.1 6 3.0 6 2.9 
0807 Melons (including watermelons) 200 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 
080810 Apples  400 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0  0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 
08092100 Cherry (including sour cherry) 200 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 
08092900 
080930 Peaches  100 0 0.0 0 0.0 4 3.8  0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 
081110 Strawberries, frozen 200 0 0.0  0  0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0  0  0.0 0 0.0 
081190 Other fruits, frozen 50  0 0.0  0  0.0 0 0.0  0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 
081310 Dried apricot  100 0 0.0  0  0.0 0 0.0  0  0.0 0 0.0 0.4 0.4 
0904 Pepper of the genus Piper; dried 
or crushed or ground fruits of the genus Capsicum or of the 50
  0 0.0  0 0.0 0 0.0  0 0.0 0  0.0 0.5 0.9  
  WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania  
 
- 116 - CN code Description 
Quota 
(ton/hl) 2010  2011  2012  2013  2014  2015 Imported 
Quantity 
Quantity 
used (%) 
Imported 
Quantity 
Quantity 
used (%) 
Imported 
Quantity 
Quantity 
used (%) 
Imported 
Quantity 
Quantity 
used (%) 
Imported 
Quantity 
Quantity 
used (%) 
Imported 
Quantity 
Quantity 
used (%) 
genus Pimenta  
0909 Seeds of anise, badian, fennel, 
coriander, cumin or caraway; 
juniper berries 
0910 Ginger, saffron, turmeric 
(curcuma), thyme, bay leaves, curry and other spices 
081110 Strawberries, frozen 200 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 
081190 Other fruits, frozen 50  0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0  0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 
081310 Dried apricot  100 0.02 0.02 0 0.0 0 0.0 0.4 0.4 1 1.0 0.3 0.3 
0904 Pepper of the genus Piper; dried 
or crushed or ground fruits of the genus Capsicum or of the genus Pimenta 50
 0.2 0.4 1 2.0 0.3 0.5  0.5 0.9 2 3.1 2 3.1 
Seeds of anise, badian, fennel, 
coriander, cumin or caraway; 
juniper berries 
Ginger, saffron, turmeric (curcuma), thyme, bay leaves, 
curry and other spices 
1704 Sugar confectionery, not 
containing cocoa 1,000  1,000  100.0  1,000  100.0  1,000 100.0  1,000  100.0  1,000  100.0  803 80.3 
1806 Chocolate and other food 
preparations containing cocoa 3,500  388 11.1 552 15.8 1,080 30.9  1,412  40.3 1,093  31.2 688 19.7 
200110 Cucumber and gherkins, 
prepared or preserved 1,100  598 54.3 750 68.1 580 52.7 514 46.7 542 49.3 234 21.3 
200190 Other prepared or preserved 
vegetables and fruits 
2002 Tomatoes prepared or preserved 
otherwise than by vinegar or 
acetic acid 
200590 Other vegetables and mixtures 
of vegetables, prepared or 
preserved 
2007 Jams, fruit jellies 
2008 Prepared or preserved fruit, nuts 
and other edible parts of plants 
2009 Fruit juices  
2105 Ice cream  50 50 99.8 50 99.8 50 100.0  50 100.0  42 83.2 41 82.6 
Source: Based on data provided by the Albanian authorities.  
  WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania  
 
- 117 - (c) Tariff quotas of agricultural products based on the Stabilis ation and Association Agreement between the European Communitie s 
and their member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Albania, of the other part 
 
CN code Description 
Quota (ton/hl) 2010  2011  2012 2013  2014  2015  Imported 
Quantity 
Quantity 
used (%) 
Imported 
Quantity 
Quantity 
used (%) 
Imported 
Quantity 
Quantity 
used (%) 
Imported 
Quantity 
Quantity 
used (%) 
Imported 
Quantity 
Quantity 
used (%) 
Quota 
(ton/hl) 
Imported 
Quantity 
Quantity 
used (%) 
04011010 Milk and cream, 
not concentrated nor containing 
added sugar or 
other sweetening matter   
                    790 790 100.0 
04012011 
04012091 
10019120 Common wheat 
and meslin 20,000 10,145  50.7 7,150  35.8 19,238  96.2 20,000  100.0  18,918  94.6 42,000  0 0.0 
10019900 Other 
10059000 Maize (except 
seeds)                  10,000  4,562  45.6 
220410 Sparkling wine 10,000 10,000  100.0  9,654  96.5 10,000  100.0 9,989  99.9 10,000  100.0  10,000  8,011  80.1 
220121 In containers 
holding 2 litres 
or less 
21032000 Tomato 
ketchup and other tomato 
sauces 60 60
 100.0  60 100.0  60 100.0 60  100 60 100.0  60 60 100.0 
Source: Based on data provided by the Albanian authorities. WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
- 118 - 
 
  Table A3.4 State-owned companies in Albania 
Joint-stock companies with more than 50% state ownership 
No. Name of company Activities 
1 Albpetrol Oil extraction and im plementation of hydrocarbons 
agreements 
2 KESH Manufacture, supply and regional  exchange of electricity  
3 OST Transmission of electricity 
4 OSHEE Distribution of electricity 
5 Kombinati Energjetik Energy 
6 Kripa Concession (salt manufacturing) 
7 Prodhim Këpuca Leasing (shoe manufacturing) 
8 Prodhim Mobilje Leasing (tire sales) 
9 Prodhim Veshje Leasing (clothing manufacturing) 
10 Berateks Leasing (clothing manufacturing) 
11 Prodhim Kabllo Concession (electrical cable manufacturing) 
12 Albcontrol 
(ish ANTA) Provision of air traffic control services 
13 Aeroporti "Nënë Tereza" Monito ring of concession contracts 
14 Hekurudha Shqiptare Rail transport (passenger and freight) 
15 Porti Detar (in Vlorë) Port services  
16 Porti Detar (in Shëngjin) Port services 
17 Porti Detar (in Sarandë) Port services 
18 Posta Shqiptare Postal services 
19 Regjistri Detar Shqiptar Registration of vessels 
20 Albturist TO Leasing (commercial environments) 
21 Alba Film Studio Leasing (visual me dia) and management  of film archive 
22 Qendra Sportive Administration of the palace of sport "Asllan Rusi", Tirana 
23 Albkontrolli Control of mineral products 
24 Qendra e Regjistrimit te Aksioneve Registration of stocks  
25 Duhan Cigare Leasing (shoe manufacturing) 
26 Tipografia Ushtarake Leasing (printer media) 
27 NPV Ushtarake Military 
28 Trajtimi i Studenteve Nr. 1 (Tirana) Student accommodation and services 
29 Trajtimi i Studenteve Nr. 2 (Tirana) Student accommodation and services 
30 Trajtimi i Studenteve Nr. 3 (Tirana) Student accommodation and services 
31 Trajtimi i Studenteve (Gjirokastër) Student accommodation and services 
32 Trajtimi i Studenteve (Korçë) Student accommodation and services 
33 Trajtimi i Studenteve (Elbasan) Student accommodation and services 
34 Trajtimi i Studenteve (Shkodër) Student accommodation and services 
35 Trajtimi i Studenteve (Vlorë) Student accommodation and services 
36 Tregu i Shitjes me shumicë Fruta 
Perime (Vlorë) Marketing fruits and vegetables 
37 Tregu i Shitjes me shumicë Fruta 
Perime (Shkodër) Marketing fruits and vegetables 
38 Albminiera Closing and conservati on of mining sites 
39 INSIG Insurance services 
 
Joint-stock companies with up to 50% state ownership (2014 and 2015)  
No. Name of company City State ownership % 
1 Sh.A. "Armo" Tiranë 15 
2 Sh.A. "AlbteLEKom" Tiranë 16.8 
3 Sh.A. "Arteksportimport" Tiranë 49 
4 Sh.A. "Industrialimpeks" Tiranë 49 
5 Sh.A. "Prodhim Material ndërtimi" Elbasan 36.4 
6 Sh.A. "Frigoriferi" Durrës 49 
7 Sh.A. "Bloja" Tiranë 7.35 
8 Sh.A. "Uzina Dinamo" Tiranë 13.38 
9 Sh.A. "Euromag 2000" Durrës 49 
10 Sh.A. "Mika" Korce 37.98 
11 Sh.A. "Buka" Tiranë 45.9 
12 Sh.A. "Tarabosh" Shkodër 42.8 
13 Sh.A. "Rekor Albania" Gjirokaster 15 
 WT/TPR/S/337 • Albania 
 
- 119 - 
 
  Limited liability companies 
 
No. Name of the company State ownership % 
1 Agrigosë , Kavajë 17.27 
2 Argjiro Tabacco Gjirokastër, shpk 43.37 
3 ALMOD , Shkozet, Durrës, shpk 81.83 
4 Coca Cola Shpk, Tiranë 2.65 
5 Disko Bar Lux shpk, Tiranë 20 
6 Euro Gren shpk , Tiranë 29 
7 Euroteorema shpk Peqin 30 
8 Foralb Alabastër shpk, Kavajë 25 
9 Interkinex shpk, Tiranë 20 
10 Ital druri shpk, Elbasan 18.07 
11 KAP shpk, Kavajë 17.5 
12 Qëndra Tregtare dhe e Zhvillim it Kulturor (QTZHK), Tiranë 45.11 
13 S Saranda shpk 30 
14 Siav Konstruksion, Vlorë 45.11 
15 Trans Albania shpk, Tiranë 49 
16 Super beton shpk, Tiranë 30 
17 Cement Factory shpk, Elbasan 20.69 
18 United Quarriers (Guri gëlqeror) shpk, Elbasan 13.09 
19 Elber Elbasan 100 
Source: Information provided by the Albanian authorities. 
__________