How Can Standards Facilitate Sustainable Business Operations?

Within the project “EU for Serbia – Support to Safer Products”, in the part which pertains to the strengthening of the capacities of the national infrastructure of quality and market supervision, during October, six round tables will be organized at regional chambers of commerce in Serbia.

The topic of the first round table, which was organized at the Regional Chamber of Commerce in Subotica, was “The Challenges in Implementing Technical Regulations and How Standards Can Facilitate Sustainable Business Operations”, according to the website of the Ministry of Economy. The topic was discussed by representatives of the Serbian Institute for Standardization, the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia and the Ministry of Economy of Serbia.

The European Union supports the Ministry of Economy and other competent ministries in harmonizing the legislature of Serbia with the EU in the area of free movement of goods, which, along with the freedom of movement of people, services and capital, is one of the core freedoms that the EU is based on, because a single, shared market is the essence of European integration, it is added. When national regulations for products are harmonized with the legislature of the EU, equal treatment, the increase of competitiveness, lower prices and a larger and wider choice for consumers are ensured.

Mile Mitrovic, a representative of the Ministry of Economy, talked about the key challenges in the practical implementation of technical regulations – the interpretation of the regulations, preparation of the documentation, rating the harmonization, marking the products, the importance of the implementation of Serbian and EU harmonized standards, as well as the dilemmas that the producers have when putting products on the market.

– Standardization contributes to a more efficient execution of business processes, compliance with the regulations and building the trust of the users, suppliers and other interested parties. The implementation of standards can upgrade the business of any organization, regardless of the type, size or activity – said Ljubica Petrovic of the Serbian Institute for Standardization.

Considering the importance of the topic of climate change and the necessity of adapting the economy to the new regulations, Dusan Stokic of the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia talked about the regulatory framework and international standards of quantification and reporting on the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as the importance of the sustainability standards for the business operations and competitiveness of companies.

– Beginning with the numerous challenges that companies are facing today in global markets, I presented the legal obligations of the operators of the facilities for the monitoring, reporting and verification of the GHG emissions, and the focus was on standards as an available voluntary instrument which are the most efficient support to companies in fighting climate change, to the benefit of sustainable business operations – Stokic said.

The EU provides continuous support to Serbia in removing the technical barriers to trade and the free movement of goods. The process of harmonizing with the regulations and standards of the EU is also realized, among other things, through technical support to institutions through several projects whose value exceeds EUR 10 million, says the website of the Ministry of Economy.

Regionalna privredna komora Subotice RPK Subotica

Institut za standardizaciju Srbije Beograd

Privredna komora Srbije

Ministarstvo privrede Republike Srbije

Regional Chamber of Commerce of Subotica

Serbian Institute for Standardization

Chamber of Commerce of Serbia

Ministry of Economy of Serbia

Mile Mitrović

Ljubica Petrović

Dušan Stokić

EU for Serbia Support to Safer Products

harmonization of legislature of Serbia with the European Union

free movement of goods

standardization

emission of greenhouse gases

GHG

sustainable business