Since the Single European Market (SEM) has been established, the free movement of goods has been facilitated not only by removing border formalities, but also by the technical harmonisation of national legislation in each member state. For the agri-food sector a particular concern is to guarantee the safety and integrity of products. In this respect, the European Commission has developed a stringent policy regarding food safety (sanitary and phytosanitary measures) and consumer information (quality measures). Strict regulation is therefore imposed for all agri-food products commercialised in the SEM, whether of European or third countries. In the case of EU enlargement, accession to the SEM is conditional upon the candidate countries accepting the... |