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Contraband and uncertified goods invade markets

2026-05-16 08:28:00, Denoncim CNA
Contraband and uncertified goods invade markets
Illustrative photo

Food safety in Albania and the guarantee for the products used by Albanians is one of the biggest issues raised within the framework of the EU integration process. Along with food safety, the integration process also requires the control of product brands on the market that come directly from producers.

Prime Minister Rama, a year ago, completely dissolved the NFA, putting it in full reform, but apparently the results are far from what was expected.

CNA has reported a very important phenomenon, according to an observation, which showed us that not only were taxes being evaded or the product authorized for certain distributors being stolen, but the health of consumers was also being jeopardized, through the sale of smuggled goods, without certification and guarantees from the manufacturers. (READ HERE)

We took the case of wines and showed how dozens of types of wines are sold on the market, which are expensive, starting at 1,000 euros per bottle, which you can usually find in any restaurant without fiscal stamps from taxes and customs at prices even below cost.

Products not distributed by the authorized distributor, that is, by the one who goes and is supplied at the origin, the one who has permission to receive and handle that product and who guarantees that it is an original product, to products that can be filled in the cellars of Southern Italy or Turkey, which are given false labels and it is not known what they contain inside.

A citizen goes to buy a bottle of wine that he thinks is 20 or 30 euros on the Albanian market, which in fact could be smuggled, could be fake, produced in the Kombinat area (once the main hotbed of counterfeiters), as there have been cases routinely denounced by investigative shows, or filled in abusive wineries by fraudsters, who can grab any type of bottle, put a label on it and put it on the market and no one knows the quality or what's inside.

This is the biggest risk because it is a risk to the health of citizens, not to mention the damage that competition has in the market and the costs that the authorized seller has, up to the huge losses that occur to the Albanian state.

The problem in Albania is not just the trade in wines, as we have reported.

CNA will begin a series of articles, where it will relentlessly address dozens of products that come and are served to citizens in the same form, but also in other abusive forms.

One form is that which enters contraband, which is stimulated by customs. The other form is the entry of a product that must be purchased from an authorized distributor, and according to the law, must also have a sticker attached translated into Albanian with what the product contains and how it should be consumed, which we have begun to encounter often in Albanian markets, next to an identical product, but which does not even have an Albanian translation, does not have anything in Albanian, but is a foreign product and for this reason is sold even more expensive.

It's not just drinks, it's dozens of cosmetic products, including pharmaceuticals and food products.

Another problematic phenomenon in the market is that of beverages, which on the shelves of Tirana supermarkets, neighborhood minimarkets and markets throughout Albania, you find the product that is the original, that comes with an authorized distributor, that has a certificate, that has a translation in Albanian, alongside it you find it in Italian; a beer, an energy drink, a fruit juice.

Both are in the showcase. Both the product that is authorized by the manufacturer in the factory and the product that has no legal parameters, but simply reads in Italian or Greek.

Contraband and uncertified goods invade markets
Illustrative photo

First, the scandal is how can these products get into our markets? Where do they come from? Who brings them? How do they pass customs?

Are they contraband goods or do the supermarket suppliers themselves fill vans and trucks and have crates inside with various goods that do not meet any Albanian legal standards, moreover, they compete abusively in the market? And what is most laughable is the fact that "this is original because it is written in Greek or Italian". In fact, its source is unknown.

What is written in Greek or Italian may have entered through customs and may have been purchased in a wholesale market, but no one guarantees its origin of production, no one guarantees its quality and standard, not to mention the abuse that is done to citizens, where the product that meets the legal parameters and has been given by the manufacturer with authorization as a brand to be marketed in Albania has a cheaper price, while the product that is written only in Italian, Greek or German, or Slavic is more expensive.

Contraband and uncertified goods invade markets

Why, the question arises?

Because it is abused. It is the same product, there is no difference, it is produced on the same line, but it is more expensive, the quality and safety are not guaranteed when there is not even authorization from the manufacturer, but you simply find it being sold to the consumer.

Albanians, inclined to buy more controlled products, go and buy the one with foreign inscriptions that is unknown in which market it was released and has a more expensive price.

They pay more to get a product that has no guarantee, is simply written in a foreign language.

Not to mention the open markets where you can find endless counterfeit goods, products, drinks, and foods of all kinds that have no control, no label, no guarantee that comes from the manufacturer, from the manufacturer's line, and the distributor is authorized, simply and only "grab, sell what we can sell, grab what we can grab".

Beyond what we have denounced with wines, this is another very flagrant case, which not only endangers the health of citizens, not only gives the state less taxes, but also robs consumers, steals from their pockets, with the slogan that these are products that are not written in Albanian.

The damage done to official distributors is even greater, then the revenue itself to the state budget. (continued)/ CNA





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