Press release from the 13th Cabinet session

During today's 13th session chaired by Prime Minister Milojko Spajić, the Cabinet adopted the Draft Law on amendments to the Law on Biocidal Products. The draft law aims to ensure a high level of protection for human health, animals, and the environment, establishing uniform conditions for placing biocidal products on the market. The implementation of new provisions will enhance and improve the conditions for the trade of biocidal products with EU countries and others, ensuring the competitiveness of the economy and promoting safer production and use of these substances. The law incorporates EU regulations on fees and charges paid by manufacturers and importers to the European Chemicals Agency, contributing to meeting the requirements for closing Chapter 27 on Environment and Climate Change. The costs for the permit issuance process for placing biocidal products on the market and in use will be borne by the applicant (manufacturer or importer of biocides), with the amount determined through a subordinate act with the prior opinion of the Ministry of Finance. As Montenegro does not have biocide manufacturers, and most importers and distributors source from EU countries already implementing these standards, the adoption of these norms is crucial. The European Chemicals Agency emphasised the necessity of introducing these standards to allocate a budget for engaging experts responsible for risk and efficacy assessment, requiring specific expertise in the fields of target organism biology, phytomedicine, and/or veterinary medicine.

The Cabinet adopted the Draft Law for the Ratification of the Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks, 2007. The enactment and enforcement of this law will strengthen the national legal framework, enhancing activities to ensure maritime navigation safety, protecting seas from pollution caused by wrecked vessels, and fulfilling the International Maritime Organisation's requirements for the ratification of international legal instruments. The entry into force of this law will create an obligation to amend the Law on the Protection of the Sea from Pollution Caused by Vessels and sublegal acts derived from the Law on the Safety of Maritime Navigation.

The Cabinet adopted the Regulation on the conditions and procedure for the selection, rights, and obligations of police liaison officers. The implementation of this regulation will enable the assignment of police officers to work in international organisations as police liaison officers. This facilitates police cooperation at operational and strategic levels with international organisations, in accordance with international agreements. The regulation also governs the conditions and procedure for selection, as well as the rights and obligations of police liaison officers. A notable change is that, in addition to the previous practice of police representatives being assigned based on internal advertisements conducted by the Ministry of the Interior, assignments can now also occur based on international advertisements conducted by the international organisation itself, with the prior consent of the relevant minister.

The Cabinet adopted a Decision amending the Decision on the variable pay. The amendment stipulates that the variable part of an employee's salary can be paid once every three months, amounting to 50% of the minimum net salary. Additionally, for employees engaged in public interest activities, the variable part of the salary can be paid on a monthly basis, amounting to 70% of the minimum salary, subject to the government's approval.

The Cabinet adopted a Decision on the establishment of the Council for Scientific Research. The Council, led Minister of Education, Science, and Innovation Anđela Jakšić Stojanović consists of nine members. The Council's responsibilities include analyzing the state and achievements in scientific research, providing expert suggestions, and, for this purpose, it has defined special powers to, among other things: prepare and propose a Strategy, suggest priorities from the Strategy, propose programmes of general interest for the current year, and provide opinions in the process of determining the scope of funds for financing priorities from the Strategy and monitoring the implementation of the Strategy.

The Cabinet adopted the Analysis of the functioning of the local self-government system in Montenegro, highlighting the need for reform in terms of both functioning (introduction of a mild political system and planned decentralization) and financing (considering the possibility of reforming the local self-government financing system and regional development to enhance local financing sources based on specific economic activities).

A Crisis Management Plan in the event of an outbreak of African swine fever was adopted. The primary goal of this plan is to reduce the risk of African swine fever among domestic and wild pigs, prevent the entry of the virus, and facilitate the movement of pigs and pork products. The plan allows for the efficient implementation of prescribed measures, coordinated mobilization of all resources, preventing disease spread, and reducing negative consequences affecting livestock development and the production of safe food.

The Cabinet provided approval for the 2024 Work Plan, Financial Plan, and the Report on the Implementation of the Financial Plan for "Monteput" LLC Podgorica. The preliminary report on the financial plan for 2023 showed a positive financial result of €4,005,130. Building on the successful business performance in 2023, new investments are planned to further improve business results in the coming year.

An information on the Financial Agreement for the period 2021-2027 between the Government of Montenegro and the European Commission on support for agriculture and rural development under the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance IPA III (IPARD III) was adopted. Montenegro has been allocated new and significantly increased funds through IPARD III. Under the IPARD III programme, Montenegrin farmers will have access to a total of €81,975,947 in non-refundable funds, of which the European Union has allocated a total of €63,000,000 in non-refundable funds, while national co-financing amounts to €18,975,947.

The Cabinet adopted an Information on the continuation of the second phase of the concession project for the Montenegro Airports and gave consent for further negotiations between the Ministry of Transport and Maritime Affairs and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) regarding the continuation of the second phase of the tender.

The Cabinet adopted decisions to form negotiating working groups for the preparation and conduct of negotiations on Montenegro's accession to the European Union for Chapter 23 – Judiciary and Fundamental Rights and Chapter 24 – Justice, Freedom, and Security.

An Information on the conclusion of the Agreement between the Ministry of Education, Science, and Innovation of Montenegro and the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China on the mutual recognition of higher education qualifications was adopted. The agreement aims to facilitate access to higher education and mutual recognition of higher education qualifications in China and Montenegro.