Baku, September 2, AZERTAC

The EU Twinning Project "Support to the State Veterinary Control Service (SVCS) in Strengthening the Epidemiological Surveillance System in Azerbaijan" has today been officially launched at the State Veterinary Control Service premises of the Ministry of Agriculture.

The project aims to strengthen the capacity of the SVCS in respect of epidemiology, prevention and control of animal diseases and zoonoses in line with International Epizootic Bureau in order to protect animal and human health and contribute to the economic growth of the agricultural sector and improvement of the food safety situation in Azerbaijan.

EU Ambassador to Azerbaijan, representatives of the Embassies of France and Hungary in Azerbaijan, representatives of the French-Hungary consortium, experts from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Defense Threat Reduction Agency of the United States, ACIP of World Bank, Twinning project team, as well as the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Economy, State Customs Committee, Ministry of Health and other relevant authorities participated in this kick-off meeting.

The 1,020,000 EUR worth EU funded Twinning project started on 19 May 2016 and will be implemented within two years by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ministry of Agriculture, Agrifood and Forestry of France, and the National Food Chain Safety Office of Hungary.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Azerbaijan Seyfaddin Talibov welcomed the guests with an opening speech. Other speakers at the event included EU Ambassador and Head of the EU Delegation in Azerbaijan Mrs. Malena Mard, Deputy-Head of the French Embassy, Mrs. Fabienne Drout-Lozinski, Deputy-Head of the Embassy of Hungary Dr. Laszlo Makk, Ministry of Agriculture, AgriFood and Forestry of France, Dr. Stephanie Flauto, Ministry of Agriculture of Hungary, Mrs. Lilla EGRI, Acting Head of the State Veterinary Control Service, Beneficiary Country Project Leader, Dr. Azer Suleymanov.

EU Ambassador Mard highlighted that this project will be another corner stone of the fruitful cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan in the field of regional and rural development.