. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/ALB/47 
9 January 2008  
 (08-0101) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  ALBANIA
  
If applicable, name of local government involved:     
2. Agency responsible:  Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Consumer Protection 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item numb er(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):  Certification and in spection bodies in the field of vegetation and animal 
production and products  called "BIO" 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable :  Albania
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:  Draft Decision of the 
Council of Ministers on approval of the Regulation "On structur e, function, criteria of 
acceptance, assessment of ne cessary documents and obligatio ns of certification bodies" 
(available in Albanian, 15 pages, annexes included) 
6. Description of content:  This draft Decision of Council of Ministers regulates the structure, 
function, criteria of acceptance  and assessment of necessary documents and obligations of 
certification bodies.  It is based on Article 4 and 18 of Law No 9199, dated 26 February 2004 
"On production, process, certification and place in  the market of products called 'BIO'".  This 
draft defines the scope of the regulation obligat ions of the certification bodies, demands and 
documents that a private or state body (domestic and foreign) have to fulfil in order to register 
as a certification body.  It charges the Stat e Commission for Organic Production (KSHPO) to 
register the private or state certification bodies, which can be  domestic or foreign bodies, 
being expert in the field of vegetable and an imal production processing of products called 
"BIO".  The State Commission for Organic Pr oduction keeps under control the activity of 
registered certificati on bodies.  This control includes the audit of the procedures of 
certification, decisions , structures, administrative system s and units of organic production 
certified from the certification body.  It defi nes the demands for registration of inspection 
bodies, the documents that each physical and legal persons (domestic or foreign) must fulfil to 
register as an inspection body.  Th is draft Decision includes 2 annexes.  
7. Objective and rationale:  [ X ] food safety, [   ] animal health,  [   ] plant protection, 
[ X ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease,  [   ] protect territory from other 
damage from pests    G/SPS/N/ALB/47 
Page 2  
 
  8. International standard, guideline or recommendation:  
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission, [   ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [   ] International Plant Protection Convention, [ X ] None  
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:    
9. Relevant documents and language (s) in which these are available:   Law No 9199, dated 
26 February 2004 "On production, process, certif ication and place in th e market of products 
called "BIO"" 
10. Proposed date of adoption:  22 March 2008 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  22 September 2008 
12. Final date for comments:  60 days after circulati on by WTO Secretariat 
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [ X ] National notification 
authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, or  address, fax number and E-mail address (if 
available) of other body: 
13. Texts available from:  [ X ] National notifica tion authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, 
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body: 
General Directorate of Standardization 
WTO Enquiry Point - Albania Tel:  +(355 4) 22 62 55 
Fax:  +(355 4) 24 71 77 
E-mail:  info@dps.gov.al Website:  http://www.dps.gov.al