The conference is organized in the frame of the Twinning Project “EU-FITO-BiH”, in which Informest acts as mandated body, while the lead partners are the Italian Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies and the Ministry of Agriculture of Poland. 

The conference started with an opening speech of the representatives of the main European institutions and local authorities involved in the project. In particular, the ambassador Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, leader of the EU Delegation in Bosnia, talked about the agricultural and rural sector in the country, one of the most important productive sectors in Bosnia, and about the importance of the development of a common strategy for the phytosanitary field and its gradual alignment with EU standards and legislation. 

“The creation of a coherent strategy”- the representative of the Italian Embassy in Sarajevo has continued – “is vitally important for the region, because the alignment with EU standards brings many economic benefits and helps to strengthen the economic relations between Italian and Bosnian companies”.  

Eligio Malusà, Resident Twinning Advisor of the project, has underlined that, above the legislative and economic aspects, the proper use of pesticides also affects the environment and especially the health, considering that the pesticide residues remaining on the vegetation and on the fruit are assimilated and eaten by the people. 

In the afternoon, the Italian and Polish representatives will present their experiences in the phytosanitary industry and afterword there will be a discussion on the strategic development of the phytosanitary sector in BiH.