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Table 3.6 Imports requiring licensing
Goods categories/items: Certain animals and plant species (CITES)
Legal basis: Law No. 9867/2008 on Determining the Rules and Procedures for the International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, as amended
Controlling authority: Ministry of Tourism and Environment
(...)

Table 3.6 Imports requiring licensing
(...)
Goods categories/items: Mercury
Legal basis: Law of Chemicals No. 27/2016, based on Minamata Convention
Controlling authority: Ministry of Tourism and Environment
(...)

Table 3.6 Imports requiring licensing
(...)
Goods categories/items: Ozone depleting substances
Legal basis: Council of Ministers Decision No. 10/2019 on Rules for the Production, Import, Export, placing on the Market and Use of Ozone Depleting Substances, as well as the Products and Equipment that Contain these Substances
Controlling authority: Directorate of Climate Change, Ministry of Tourism and Environment
(...)

3.53.   (...) The SAC[State Aid Commission] approved new state aid schemes in 2020 to support "green" businesses in Tirana, and in 2022 to support business start-ups throughout Albania, implemented by the State Minister of Entrepreneurship Protection. According to the authorities, 32% of the state aid in 2022 was in the form of grants, and 68% as tax expenditures. (...)

3.57.   (...) Firms wanting to set up in the zones[Technology and Economic Development Areas] are encouraged to operate in new and innovative industries, meet international pollution elimination standards, be energy efficient, and exhibit high productivity. (...)

3.66.   (...) In 2016, an Inspectorate for Market Surveillance, reporting to the Ministry of Finance and Economy, was established. It is tasked, inter alia, with overseeing the market for non-food consumer products in terms of safety, consumer protection, copyrights and related rights (Section 3.3.7), and energy labelling. (...)

3.71.   In 2016, Albania adopted a new law on organic production, labelling, and control, replacing an earlier law from 2008. Imports can be marketed as organic if importers demonstrate that products have been produced with equivalent practices as spelled out in the law, with products certified as organic by a EU member State control body (or one considered equivalent to them) automatically considered as equivalent in Albania (Article 37). According to the authorities, a new law on organic production is being drafted to reflect recent changes in EU legislation, and is expected to be adopted in 2024.

3.74.   The Directorate for Food Safety in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is the national notification authority for SPS matters as regards the WTO and CEFTA[the Central European Free Trade Agreement]. In addition to this Directorate, the Ministries of Health, Environment, and Agriculture and Rural Development are also responsible for drafting laws. (...)

3.79.   There is no specific legal framework in place to regulate the release of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into the environment, but the Law on Food regulates the marketing of food containing GMOs under certain circumstances. In 2020, new rules regarding animal feed labelling, including those containing GMO, were approved.

3.90.   (...) Regarding water, the Water Regulatory Authority regulates service tariffs and approves water sale prices and tariffs, as well as tariffs for wastewater and its treatment. It approved a new tariff setting document that has applied since 2022 and contains a "cost plus" tariff methodology and a new "price cap" methodology, with tariffs being suggested by operators and approved by the Authority. While water and wastewater services are only supplied from state-owned companies, the methodologies would evenly apply to SOEs and private companies. The Energy Regulatory Authority regulates tariffs for electricity transmission and distribution, end-user prices for electricity provided by Universal Service Suppliers (no prices using high-voltage connections are regulated as of 2022), and purchase prices from relatively small "priority power producers [81](...)
[81] Priority power producers benefit from support under the Law on the Promotion of the Use of Energy from Renewable Sources (Section 4.2).