Meeting with livestock farmers/ Hall: There will be an increase in funds and strengthening of food safety controls

2026-04-07 17:52:00, Aktualitet CNA

Meeting with livestock farmers/ Hall: There will be an increase in funds and

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Andis Salla, together with the Minister of Finance, Petrit Malaj, held a meeting today with a representative group of 15 farmers, part of the protest organized today, to listen and discuss closely the concerns, concrete challenges on the ground and issues related to the sector.

During the discussions, representatives of the livestock sector raised a number of issues related to subsidization, market functioning, competition, and product standards, while the institutions reaffirmed their commitment to following up and addressing them in a coordinated manner.

During his speech, Minister Salla announced that through this year's National Scheme, designed based on the needs of the field, livestock farmers benefit from increased support, including increased direct payments:

• From 10,000 to 12,000 lek for cows

• From 1,200 to 1,500 lek for small items

• From 1,000 to 2,000 lek per beehive.

• Support for pigs is included for the first time and the lower benefit thresholds are halved:

- 5 cows

- 50 small heads

- 25 hives.

Regarding financial support, Minister Salla emphasized that in 2025 the total value benefited from direct payments for livestock reached around 2.5 billion lek, while for 2026 it is expected to increase to around 4 billion lek, partly through fund additions from normative acts during the year. Also, for the first time, dairy farmers will benefit from 10% of the value of sales invoices, a support mechanism outside the National Scheme, which aims to promote formalization and support domestic production.

Along the same lines, Minister Salla said that controls on imported products at border inspection points will be intensified, with a focus on guaranteeing quality standards, correct labeling, and verifying the origin of products.

Also, during July, support will be launched to strengthen laboratory capacities, both at the regional level and at border inspection points, in order to increase food safety standards and consumer protection. /CNA