TIRANA, July 19 /ATA/ The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development announces that “ IPARD program for agriculture support has not been discontinued. The work is running apace, the program is ongoing.”
In a press release, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development informs that, in response to several media publications, we inform the public, but especially farmers and agro-processors, regarding the process of support as part of the IPARD program, that the agricultural support program has not been discontinued.
“Albanian authorities have been informed of a suspension of the current reimbursement invoice from DG AGRI for part of the next expenses. This is a completely administrative process that allows the re-verification of the control systems by accredited structures which will take the necessary measures in order to continue the normal reimbursement from the EU. These are normal procedures of the European Union when the need arises to verify expenses that are suspected of activity in breach of the rules in place,” according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, all Albanian structures are in cooperation and coordination with the OLAF office and DG AGRI, providing full transparency, just as they have been doing since the first day of accreditation, of all control, investigative and administrative processes followed to date or that may be activated in the future.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development emphasizes that the accreditation process of the IPARD program has started for more than 10 years and the implementation started at the end of 2018 after the accreditation of the operating structures in accordance with the Framework, Sectorial and Financial Agreement ratified by the Albanian parliament. Since 2018, the program has completely transformed the production and processing processes in our country, as well as enhanced the technical expertise of the local staff.
Like any financial instrument, the program examines, controls and implements projects in accordance with well-defined rules approved by the European Union, which are constantly controlled and audited by internal and external structures. If violations are found, the program determines the operating structures that take measures and act in accordance with the provided legal procedures, just as it is done in any similar structure in the countries of the European Union.
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