Skopje, 7 June 2022 (MIA) – As part of the two-day Open Balkan Summit in Ohrid, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy Ljupcho Nikolovski hosted his Serbian and Albanian counterparts, Branislav Nedimović and Frida Krifca. Delegations of the three countries led by the agriculture ministers held a working meeting at a technical level, for talks on speeding up the process of aligning veterinary certificates in order to facilitate the exchange of live animals and products of animal origin between the Open Balkan countries. Participants in the meeting agreed that the Food and Veterinary Agency is to make changes within 15 days to the Rulebook regulating the export and import of live animals and products of animal origin towards smooth trade between the countries, the Government said in a press release. “Open Balkan is a symbol of our mutual trust and respect. Today’s health and economic crises, facing our countries and the world, yet again reaffirm the need and benefits of the Open Balkan initiative. Thanks to the successful cooperation, we managed together through this initiative to ensure stable supply of basic foodstuffs between our countries, directly helping the citizens,” Nikolovski stressed. The commitment of all ministries and teams in the working groups, since the beginning of the initiative and until today, has led to major progress in the area of cooperation between the three countries in the area of agriculture, reads the press release. The green corridors at the border crossings of the Open Balkan countries are already working, which is a great relief for economic operators. The phytosanitary certificates are recognized in all three countries, and trade in plants and plant based products is running smoothly. Minister Nikolovski thanked the two ministers for the cooperation between the countries amid such times of crisis and for the joint commitment to more easily overcome the crisis. The teams of the ministries and the working groups from the three countries remain committed to work and talks to also resolve outstanding issues between the countries that are part of the Open Balkan.