Albania, need for appropriate policies in agriculture

2024-03-16 08:32:00, Aktualitet CNA

Albania, need for appropriate policies in agriculture

Illustrative photo

Towards Alliances

In the years of socialism, military training was part of everyone's daily life in Albania. In the 80s, in high schools, one day a week was military, but another full month. In the schools there were warehouses with weapons, which the young people protected 24 hours a day.

In winter, the game of finding benches for the students to sit in the classrooms began. The classrooms where there was no class were emptied of benches to be used in other classrooms, because the benches were burned at night in the stove of the military guard's spare room for heat, there was no firewood.

The army continued in the university, where cadres graduated with a professional diploma, but who were also qualified as reserve officers. Such a large investment of young people's time and energy was considered normal.

It was equally important for the system to create soldiers as well as workers and professionals. The difference between yesterday and today is politics. Politics, not only in the sense of a democratic system or dictatorship, but in the sense today, protection is done by professionals and not by the masses which the party makes militant.

Time, great energies, were freed for youth, workers and professionals, now they dedicate themselves, education, professional training, work, other free time. From a strategic point of view, the country as part of the NATO Alliance is safer than ever.

The professional army, the budget of about 2% of the PPB for the army, having the most democratic system of government, cooperation with the allies, transformed the military security to previously unthinkable, but also measurable, levels.

VAT on food

The saying "armies march on a full stomach" is attributed to Napoleon. The army, without food is possible even before arriving on the battlefield. This food war, socialism in Albania had lost all the time despite all its efforts.

The market economy quickly filled the empty store shelves with both local and imported products. Cyclical developments of the economy, normal evolution, but various crises, such as the war in Ukraine, climate change, changes in the structure of the population, force to review the measures and programs that are implemented, correcting those that move away from the laws of the free market, but even making auxiliary policies for those products, for which the free market does not work.

The latter, especially when the products have strategic value, are necessary and must be provided locally, or as cheaply as possible from imports. Economic and development policies are related to taxes that are applied, and in our country, one of the main taxes is VAT.

VAT is a tax applied mainly in Europe, which directly affects consumption. This is considered one of the bad effects of this tax, especially for the poor sections of the population, whose purchasing power and consumption is reduced.

While buying a new jacket can be taxed as much as 20%, so using an old jacket as long as it makes sense for the authorities, it is not easily affordable to tax the daily food at 20% of its price.

Therefore, in all developed European countries of the EU, VAT on food is minimal or zero. The additional problem in Albania is that not only is the VAT on food at 20%, but the farms of agricultural producers are generally not subject to VAT.

As a result, they cannot transfer the VAT to the consumer, but charge him directly and through the processing and trading links, their price, ie production cost plus profit, but also the VAT generated during production.

The latter becomes part of the price, for one or two hypothetical passes of the product during the chain, as well as becomes part of the final VAT. In reality, the Albanian consumer, unlike the European consumer, pays a tax of up to 20% more, depending on the VAT rate in different EU countries for food, but also pays up to 20% more. too much for the local production link, which is not subject to VAT, when that production is purchased from an entity (commercial network) with VAT, as well as when it has passed through a processor with VAT.

The minimum policy here should be that either all domestic agricultural production goes to VAT, or the part of the VAT that the state collects twice should be subsidized, or the final consumer should not pay it, because it is not his responsibility to pay it. .

It does not seem easy at all for hundreds of thousands of farmers to become VAT subjects. For this, strong and long-term policies will be needed, which should consider the costs of switching to VAT for farms, reducing VAT for final buyers, or a system that combines them.

So far we have not reached the subsidies, and other support, figuratively speaking, it is the part that allows us to march to the store, then there is the battle of competition where the support for the product or sector must be factored.

The two are combined, but the Albanian livestock farmers, not subject to VAT, who are the majority, have a greater burden on their shoulders compared to a stall with VAT or importation. We need to be able to produce milk that is not taxed twice on the part of livestock farmers, and support livestock farming with investments, infrastructure and knowledge.

An example for the latter, in Kular i Divjaka with many stalls and milk producers, electricity from the network only reached these days of February 2024, and the road to their milk market, about 20 km, still remains unpaved.

How can a stable be competitive with an electric generator and must do the transport with military vehicles?

Consensus and effectiveness

Agriculture, but food, nature related to it, sustainability for the future require real economic and development policies. Producers of cucumbers or milk are the same as those who produce cars or software, market laws work the same, security works the same.

A cucumber with pesticides beyond the limits poisons you as well as a car that pollutes the air. A computer software that is not updated causes as many problems with viruses as "medicines" or pesticides, which no longer work and are useless in the field or greenhouse.

It is easy to say cultivars that adapt to the market, product identification, we are with livestock farmers, we are for collection points, free oil, exports in a billion euros.

If the demand is to have 100% Albanian cow's milk, then policies are needed so that the cows have enough food, normal growth conditions, milking conditions with 100% hygienic machines, milk storage on the farm in the cold, transportation, sales processing.

In the Netherlands and many other countries, the main problem is not the quantity produced and the milk market, but the policies related to methane gas, cow manure. Where will the manure be deposited so that it does not cause problems of soil, water and air pollution, if more milk continues to be produced.

It seems as if there are two opposite policies, in Albania an increase in production is required, and in the Netherlands a decrease in production. In fact, they are the same, increased effectiveness is required. The Netherlands should still increase it by having it extremely high, and Albania should increase the effectiveness by having it extremely low.

The difference lies in the fact that, paradoxically, it is easier to increase effectiveness when you have it high, than when you have it minimal, because in the latter the basics are often missing.

Creating the foundations of the economy in Albania has been chaotic, which is probably worse than a bad policy, because many times you don't know what to correct.

Another policy for this would be to have long-term policies agreed between the political parties, - when 27 countries in the EU agree on a common 5-year policy, the political parties in Albania can also agree on the future of society. food, agriculture, nature./Monitor