November Mission of International Experts within the IED Serbia project

A new mission of international experts from Ireland, Patrick Lawrence Sweeney and Tom Stafford, took place in November as part of the IED Serbia project. The mission included continuation of activities related to strengthening the capacity of environmental inspectorate, with a special focus on enforcement in installations subject to the Law on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control.

The training sessions were focused on the key aspects of the inspection process: preparation and planning of inspection activities, conducting inspections through practical simulation on-site, as well as creating detailed inspection reports. This time, special attention was paid to inspectors and competent authorities at local level, but the training also included inspectors from the provincial level.

Simulation inspections were conducted at several companies to make the training as comprehensive as possible and tailored to different industrial sectors. The first visits during the mission were organised at the heating plant “Kotež”, which operates within the public utility company “Grejanje” Pančevo, and is involved in the production and distribution of thermal energy, as well as at the pig farm in Crepaja, owned by the company Almex doo. During the mission, the experts also visited food processing companies in the City of Sombor, namely “Somboled doo”, which produces milk and dairy products, and “Bimal Sunce doo”, which specialises in oilseed processing.

The November mission also marked the continuation of support related to the process of integrated permits issuance. During the visit to the company “Flash Srb” d.o.o. from Apatin, which deals with weaving, dyeing, and finishing fabrics, the compliance of the plant with Best Available Techniques (BAT) was assessed and guidelines were given for drafting of the integrated permit. This company is one of the selected operators for which a draft integrated permit is being prepared within the project, in cooperation with competent authorities from the national level.