On 18 March, the Kick-off Meeting of the administrative twinning project “Strengthening the National Phytosanitary System” took place at the Marriott Hotel in Skopje. This is the second phytosanitary Twinning project supporting North Macedonia, financed with EUR 1.5 million under the IPA instrument and with a duration of 29 months.

The project, officially launched on 1 July 2025, is implemented within the framework of the European Union Twinning cooperation and sees Italy as the lead Member State, in partnership with Greece and Croatia, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy of North Macedonia, the final beneficiary of the activities. The event was attended by representatives of national institutions and project partners.

In his address, the Ambassador of Italy to North Macedonia, Paolo Palminteri, reaffirmed Italy’s strong commitment to supporting the country’s European integration path, highlighting the strategic value of the technical assistance provided through the project and the contribution of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forests (MASAF) in the transfer of expertise and best practices.

Project objectives and activities

The project “Strengthening the National Phytosanitary System” aims to strengthen North Macedonia’s national phytosanitary system, supporting its progressive alignment with the EU acquis in the field of plant health, phytosanitary safety and official controls. The main objectives include: improving the regulatory and institutional framework in the phytosanitary sector; strengthening administrative, inspection and laboratory capacities; aligning control, monitoring and phytosanitary risk management procedures with European Union standards; enhancing the technical skills of the staff involved through training activities, on-the-job support and expert missions.

Project activities are organised into thematic components and include the contribution of short- and long-term experts, technical missions, workshops, training sessions and coordination meetings, including periodic Steering Committee Meetings, which are essential for monitoring progress and planning future activities.

INFORMEST participates in the project as a Mandated Body and is responsible for the administrative and financial management of the project activities, as well as for providing operational support to the experts involved in the implementation of the planned actions. Thanks to its consolidated experience in managing EU-funded Twinning and international cooperation projects, INFORMEST contributes to ensuring the proper implementation of the project, compliance with IPA instrument rules, and effective coordination between European partners and beneficiary institutions in North Macedonia.

The Kick-off Meeting represented a key moment to present the overall project framework, share objectives, working methodology and partners’ roles, and officially launch the cooperation activities in support of strengthening the Macedonian phytosanitary system.

Highlights from the Kick-off Meeting of the Phytosanitary Twinning Project

Kick-off Meeting of the Twinning Project: Event Reel