On 10 December, 2015 in Sarajevo, the Republic Administration for Inspection Activities of the Republic of Srpska and the Federal Administration for Inspection Activities the results of a part of the Technical Assistance for Improving Investment Climate and Institutional Strengthening Project (ICIS) that relate to training and education.
This part of the project was conducted by the “Jacobs, Cordova & Associates” Consulting Company, and it relates to training of agricultural, i.e. phytosanitary inspectors, health, veterinary, water, environmental, market and food safety inspectors.
The implementation of project activities included 12 workshops with total of 144 participants according to topics selected by the Inspectorates of the RS and the FB&H, as well as a series of meetings and four seminars during which possibilities for further improvement of inspection work were discussed.
As a part of the contract on consulting services, the consulting firm organised a study tour to Northern Ireland, where representatives of inspection authorities of the Republic of Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina visited the City of Belfast inspection service, UK Food Standards Agency, Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, as well as two food establishments that are examples of good practices in food production and cooperation with inspection authorities.
One of the goals of the project is harmonization and standardization of inspection procedures, and improving the synergy effect of inspections, which involves having several inspection services working at the same time in order to save the time of businesses and inspectors, and which will in turn result in more efficient and effective inspection surveillance.
New webpages of the Inspectorates of the Republic of Srpska and the FB&H were also developed within project activities.
The ICIS project consists of three parts and includes procurement of IT equipment and specialised equipment for inspectors, training for inspectors, and developing an interoperability information system. The project has been realised with assistance of the World Bank Group in partnership with the Kingdom of Sweden and its International Development Agency (SIDA).
