The Vice President of the Freedom Party, Erisa Xhixho, delivered her speech at the Committee on Europe and Foreign Affairs, calling for immediate legal intervention to guarantee food security in the country.

Xhixho emphasized that food safety is one of the main pillars of public health protection and is directly linked to national security. According to her, the increase in cases of chemical, biological and metal contaminants in domestic and imported food products has created an alarming situation for Albanian citizens.

She underlined that Albanian products rejected by European Union countries are only the "tip of the iceberg", as many of them end up on the domestic market and are consumed without any safety guarantees.

Djixo's statement

Food safety/ Arguments for changing the law
1. The need for legal intervention
Food safety constitutes one of the main pillars of public health protection and national security. The continuous increase in cases of chemical and biological contaminants in food products, both domestically produced and imported, has created an alarming situation that requires urgent legal and institutional intervention.
Albanian products that are blocked, returned or destroyed in the countries where they are exported are just the tip of the iceberg. They represent the alarming signal coming from foreign authorities about the quality of products that are produced in Albania and that, unfortunately, are consumed every day by Albanian citizens.
In many cases, products rejected from international markets end up in the domestic market, increasing the risk to consumer health and indicating serious weaknesses in food control mechanisms.

In the last 2 years, dozens of cases of contaminated products that are dangerous to public health have been reported. Among the most important cases identified are:
• Croatia's rejection of Albanian pepper exports due to high pesticide levels
• Contaminated tangerines rejected by the European Union that ended up on the domestic market
• Detection of strawberries with prohibited pesticides
• Detection of fish infected with the Anisakis parasite in the Albanian market
• Detection of pork and chicken contaminated with salmonella
• Discovery of ice cream containing carcinogenic ethylene oxide
• Blocking Albanian peaches from Croatia due to high nickel levels
• The presence of arsenic in bread, reported in the media just a few days ago

The presence of biological, chemical and metal contaminants in the food chain, including mycotoxins in animal feed and dairy products, poses a serious threat to population health and requires immediate regulatory intervention.

2. Shortcomings of current legislation
Currently, the field of food safety is regulated by the Food Law and the Law on Official Control of Food Products. However, these laws have created significant gaps in ensuring prior control of products before they are released to the market or exported.
The situation was further worsened by regulatory acts adopted after 2017, which removed the obligation for mandatory analytical control for domestic and imported food products. As a result, hazardous contaminants were only detected after the products had entered the market and been consumed by citizens.
Cases of salmonella in meat products or the presence of pesticides and heavy metals in agricultural products are direct indicators of the weakening of protective mechanisms.

3. Compliance with European Union requirements
The European Union's 2025 Progress Report highlights that the Albanian official food control system remains inconsistent with European regulations and that the country still does not fully implement valid methods for identifying contaminants in food products.
The draft law aims to close this legal vacuum by achieving full alignment of Albanian legislation with European Union directives and regulations, within the framework of Chapter 12 of the negotiations, which relates to food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary protection.

4. Strengthening the laboratory control system
An essential element of the draft law is the establishment of a legal obligation for the accreditation and certification of laboratories that perform food analysis. The draft law stipulates that any public or private laboratory that performs analytical controls on food products must be accredited according to the European standard ISO 17025. Performing analyses without accreditation is prohibited, guaranteeing the use of valid and internationally recognized methods. Such a request is also made in the EU progress report, which states that “Albania still does not have valid methods for the determination of contaminants in its food products” and requires accreditation of the institutions that must apply these methods.

This cannot be left as something optional, as no one has the right to perform analytical controls without being accredited and certified.

This measure increases the reliability of the food control system and restores the credibility of Albanian products in international markets.

5. Economic impact and reputation of Albanian products
The systematic rejection of Albanian products in foreign markets has caused economic losses and damage to the reputation of domestic production. The loss of credibility in international markets is a long-term damage that is directly related to the functioning of the food traceability and control system.

6. Contribution to the European integration process
The draft law transposes European Union directives in the field of food safety and directly contributes to advancing Albania's accession negotiations.

7. Responsibility towards the Albanian consumer
Food safety is a legal and moral obligation to citizens. The increase in cases of contaminated products has created uncertainty and public concern. The adoption of this draft law aims to restore consumer confidence and guarantee the protection of the health of Albanian citizens and children.
The Freedom Party will make all institutional efforts to guarantee the safety of the food that Albanians put on the table today.

Products on the markets today are sporadically inspected. Citizens consume food without guarantees, while EU countries reject our exports due to a lack of standards.

Food security is national security. The health of our children cannot be sacrificed for lack of political will. Therefore, I invite my colleagues from the majority to support it!