64IMPLEMENTATION OF CERTIFICATION SCHEMES IN THE BALKAN AGRO-FOOD SECTOR
Dragan Cockalo1, Dejan Dordevic2, Mila Kavalic3, Carisa Besic4 Corresponding author E-mail: dragan.cockalo@tfzr.rs
ARTICLEINFO ABSTRACT
Standardization and the use of certification schemes affect economy competitiveness in general, and therefore the agro-food sector as well - certification according to quality standards is a pre-condition for increasing the competitiveness of agro-food industry. Implementation of quality assurance systems in the agro-food sector and in the retail chains of the Balkan countries are covered in this paper. The Balkan countries mainly focus on the mandatory standards, whereas the non-mandatory ones are almost exclusively used by the country market leaders. It is also the case with the retail chains which by expanding their network also expand the range of standards, and therefore increase the level of competitiveness. This paper provides the information on standardization and implementation of certification schemes in the agro-food industry and retailers in the Balkan Region, also connection of competitiveness and implementation of standards. As the authors of this review know, the consolidated data of this type have not been presented yet.
© 2019 EA. All rights reserved.
Introduction
Private food standards and regulations differ from one another per complacency extent: some of them are voluntary while the others are compulsory. Private standards are developed as a response to consumer concerns, primarily as the means of competitive
1 Dragan Cockalo, Ph.D., Full Professor, University of Novi Sad, Technical faculty "Mihajlo Pupin" in Zrenjanin, 23000 Zrenjanin, Dure Bakovica bb, Republic of Serbia. Phone: +381 62 801 97 41, E-mail: dragan.cockalo@tfzr.rs ORCID ID (http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2085-5420)
2 Dejan Dordevic, Ph.D., Full Professor, University of Novi Sad, Technical faculty "Mihajlo Pupin" in Zrenjanin, 23000 Zrenjanin, Dure Bakovica bb, Republic of Serbia. Phone: +381 62 801 97 26, E-mail: dejan.djordjevic@tfzr.rs ORCID ID (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9453-9207)
3 Mila Kavalic, M.Sc., Assistant, University of Novi Sad, Technical faculty "Mihajlo Pupin" in Zrenjanin, 23000 Zrenjanin, Dure Bakovica bb, Republic of Serbia. Phone: +381 63 531 636, E-mail: milazakin@gmail.com
4 Carisa Besic, Ph.D., Full Professor, University of Kragujevac, Faculty of technical science Cacak, 32000 Cacak, Svetog Save 65, Republic of Serbia. Phone: +381 60 369 96 96, E-mail: carisa.besic@sbb.rs ORCID ID (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5370-5328)
Original Article Received: 18 October 2018 Accepted: 20 December 2018 doi:10.5937/ekoPolj1901077C UDC 006.83:338.439(497) Keywords:
Certification schemes, Agro-food sector, Competitiveness, Europe, Balkan countries.
JEL: D24, Q13, Q18.
placement for agro-food products of high value on the markets (Henson and Reardon, 2005). Another difference is in terms of their geographic area, (Gavron and Theuvsen, 2009). There are also individual standards such as Nature's Choice (Tesco), Filières Qualité, Field-to-Fork and collective national and international standards, Assured Food Standards, Qualitat Sicherheit and FarmAssured British Beef and Lamb as the examples for former and International Food Standard, Marine Stewardship Council, Forest Stewardship Council and GLOBALG.A.P. as the examples of latter international standards. Many different retailer control schemes were designed to meet this new legal obligation. Some liability schemes in Europe include the British Retail Consortium (BRC) standard and the International Food Standard (IFS), but Safe Quality Food Institute (SQF) standard, HACCP and ISO 22000 also operate in the EU market. Complementarity with HACCP is one out of ten reasons for implementation of ISO 22000 (Escanciano and Santos-Vijande, 2014). These private standards have evolved in response to regulatory developments and, more directly, consumer concerns, and as means of competitive positioning on the markets for high-value agricultural and food products. Thus, private rather than public standards are becoming predominant drivers of agro-food systems (Henson and Hooker, 2001). Further, while this phenomenon is well-established in industrialised countries, private standards are quickly becoming a global phenomenon, not only in the context of the international trade but also within developing country agro-food markets (Reardon et al., 1999; Reardon and Berdegue, 2002). Theuvsen, Plumeyer and Gawron (2007) argued that certification schemes affected sharing information in food supply chains and, therefore, had a strong effect on their competitiveness. Carter et al. (2018) investigating online buying experience, through an internet-enabled collective intelligence (CI) on how, what and why decisions were made to purchase food and apparel. Interesting study was conducted by authors Sapic et al. (2018) which investigated prestige and national identity as predictors of food products purchase. Also, useful can be study by authors Dumitrescu & Oana (2018) which analysed judgments and decision making in consumer behavior
We agree with the statement "as growing numbers of retailers request private standards, the standard is no longer an element of competitiveness, but simply a tool to stay on the market" (Rossignoli and Moruzzo, 2014), but this statement doesn't mean the same in the Balkans. In our opinion, there is a significant potential in the observed area. It seems that the Balkan region provides "sufficient diversity" starting points and pretensions in relation to regional, EU and global market and according to EU food safety certification schemes, harmonization efforts, systematic quality assurance and improved traceability are considered cornerstones for improving the competitiveness of European agro-business. The most prevalent schemes in the Balkan countries are: ISO 9001, ISO 14001, HACCP, GLOBAL G.A.P., ISO 22000, BRC Global Standard, Demeter and PDO/PGI/TSG systems, (Besic et al., 2015).
Materials and methods
Competitiveness of the national agro-food sector is based on the use of quality standards in the supply chain. A stronger orientation in the Balkan countries agro-food sector towards EU and the world market export have resulted in the larger number
of certified companies. On the other hand, if the tendency is in favour of regional competitiveness, the number of certificates is smaller - which is the case in Serbia. It means that stimulating national certification according to quality standards is a prerequisite for increasing the competitiveness of agro-food industry. International retailers have a significant role here, requiring suppliers' use of certain standards as a default. The productivity factor can also be linked to competitiveness, especially in the agricultural sector, where the number of employees and the size of a property also play a significant role. A review of the realised income, directly related to the retailers' competitiveness, is also the subject of this paper.
This research is based on analysis of the implementation of quality assurance systems in the Balkan agro-food sector, and on the implementation of standards on the Balkan retail market as well. By using a descriptive approach and a tabular comparison we have intended to establish the connection of agro-food sector in the Balkan region regarding competitiveness and the implementation of standards.
The research was carried out from 2015 to 2017, resulting in a selection of significant data for the aforementioned and preceeding years. Data and analyses available online have been reviewed, including FAO, Eurostat, OECD, EU Commision, WEF, IDK, GFK, Deloitte, the World Bank, local statistics office data, available data on certification schemes and their use, as well as the available relevant reports by the local Ministries. The retail chains were contacted with the aim to check their existing certificates. The chosen chains were ranked by IGD rank, distinguishing the chains by their realised income. As a characteristic competitiveness indicator, due to the limited number of comparable data, Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) was used, just like in retail, to show the mutual competitiveness in food industry of the Balkan countries, as well as the NEI (Net Export Index) to compare the competitive position of the region's agriculture.
Implementation of certification schemes in the Balkan countries
Being in the centre of the supply chain, consumers can choose among a multitude of retailers and, in that way, they induce retailers to innovate their products and services, reduce prices, give discounts or offer other benefits to consumers. Therefore, it seems that key to success lies in investing in competitive and reliable supply chains which know how to satisfy consumer requirements. Unfair activities could damage their ability to offer a wide range of products and considerably weaken their competitive position. On the other hand, a good relationship between retailers and suppliers brings the best benefits to consumers. In such innovative, pleasant and mutually beneficial ambience both suppliers and retailers share plans and common targets and objectives to achieve profitable growth. Suppliers are also trying to offer special products with competitive advantage in order to give additional value to retailers. Nowadays, about 29 million Europeans work in retail and wholesale sector which contributes to quality of life in city centres, small towns and villages, making them more attractive. (EuroCommerce, 2016).
Speaking about agricultural products, retailers lead in their promotion, mostly through retailer brands. They help in finding new markets for agricultural products and in increasing sale through different promotional activities and investments. Retailers also improve the communication between farmers and consumers by providing farmers with communication tools. There are numerous certification schemes for agricultural products and food that prove the cooperation in the food chain. Retailers also implement quality standards through third party certification schemes such as IFS, BRC, ISO22000, IMQ, ICS BIO, Ecolabel, non-GMO, MCS, ACS etc. and support and promote the development of sustainable agricultural and fishing practices, (EuroCommerce, 2016; Vlahovic et al., 2016). Balkan retailers support IFS, Global G.A.P, HACCP and ISO 22000 certification sheme and demand certification from their suppliers. Except the international, there are also lots of local, national and regional retailers who are competing by their offer and quality on this, regarding the price, exceptionally sensitive market. Although with considerable deviations, the minimum requirements that they impose to their suppliers of food products include HACCP standard.
According to Djekic et al. (2011), Djordjevic et al. (2011) also Smigic et al. (2015) in some Western Balkan countries (Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia) the implementation of different quality and food safety assurance schemes is either required by law or large multinationals (both producers and retailers) that establish their own schemes and requirements (such as HACCP). However, other private and food quality standards are applied periodically although their implementation and certification is promoted by the governments of these countries. Except HACCP, food safety standard ISO 22000 and QMS ISO 9001 are most commonly implemented in the Balkan countries. It should be mentioned here that food producers in these countries received financial support from different governmental and nongovernmental organizations (USAid, SIEPA and EU funds). Besides HACCP, the most common certifications in the Western Balkan food industry cover food safety (ISO 22000) and quality management systems (ISO 9001).
Combined with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, ISO 22000 standard represents an equal partner in creation of the integrated management system based on a risk. While observing the application of ISO standards in the Balkan countries, we are focused on the application of ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 22001. These standards can only be conditionally used in the comparison and analysis of agro sector competitiveness since, according to the available data, the application of these standards worldwide in the sectors such as agriculture, fishing, food products, beverages and tobacco, wholesale & retail trade, hotels and restaurants, is ranked among top 5 industrial sectors with the highest rate of application. Their application was observed in 2014 and 2015, (see Table 1). Indices are interesting for the following reason - in the Balkan countries, more and more attention is paid not only to the most widespread standard ISO 9001, but the economies are directed to other standards as well, which affects the creation of added value of both products and services. Romania represents the leading country in the application of ISO 9001 and 14001standards, while Greece leads in the application of
ISO 22001. Montenegro and Albania are the countries with the least application of ISO standard. Serbia is positioned in the middle of the list.
Table 1. Number of ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 22001 certificates in the Balkan
countries
Standard ISO 9001 certificates ISO 14001 certificates ISO 22001 certificates
Year 2015 2017 2015 2017 2015 2017
Total Balkan countries 40,199 32,643 15,937 11,764 3,379 3,620
Albania 279 215 106 70 12 9
Bosnia and Herzegovina 790 1,140 149 247 12 19
Bulgaria 5,441 5,397 1,484 1,820 283 261
Croatia 2,529 2,381 884 966 98 78
Greece 6,187 7,056 1,115 1,520 1,526 2,285
Montenegro 84 46 17 17 4 8
Romania 20,524 12,031 10,581 5,555 1,171 708
Serbia 2,521 2,213 1,120 887 232 187
Slovenia 1,481 1,720 357 450 13 18
Macedonia 363 444 124 232 28 47
Source: ISO, 2017
The Balkan countries are in somewhat similar situation with the former Yugoslav countries. The use of standards is still in its developing phase, the market is still being adjusted to the mandatory standard use and only the leading companies introduce non-mandatory standards in their practice. The predominantly used standard is HACCP, being required not only by law but also by the majority of retailers. The most promising private standard directly related to food in the Balkan Region is Global G.A.P.
A comparative example of standards implementation in agro-food industry and their use in Serbia and the West Balkan countries and the whole Balkans is presenedt in Table 2. Regarding the West Balkan countries, Serbia is a leader in relation to implementation of all schemes of standards. However, regarding other Balkan countries, Serbia lags behind significantly. Apart from GLOBALG.A.P., the implementation of other standards in the Republic of Serbia is low. Comparing to Greece, for example, (which is globally one of the leading counties in this standard implementation), Serbia lags behind considerably. This phenomenon additionally contributes to uncompetitiveness of Serbian companies. It is obvious from the Tables 1 and 2 that other countries from the Balkans, such as Romania and Bulgaria, are more oriented towards ISO certification schemes (generally) than towards GLOBALG.A.P. scheme, while for Serbia (strictly for food safety) the opposite is true. There are several reasons for an insufficient use of standards in Serbian agro-food industry but it seems that the most important one is when a company which implements GLOBALG.A.P. standard has an obligation to perform re-certification every year, which represents a significant financial effort. Moreover, Ministry of Agricuture, Forestry and Water Engineering of the Republic of Serbia has terminated co-funding.
Three quality logos attest to the specific traditions and qualities of food, agricultural products and wines, aromatised wines and spirits, produced in the European Union or in other countries. Two of these logos - the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) - have a specific link to the region where the product comes from, while the third one - the Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) - logo highlights a traditional production process. Food products are eligible for all three logos: PDO, PGI and TSG. Wine is eligible for PDO and PGI while spirits and aromatised wines qualified for PGI recognition (see Table 2.). Greece is the leading country in the application of PGI, PDO and TSG. Demeter is a brand for the products from Biodynamic Agriculture. Only strictly controlled and contractually bound partners are permitted to use the Brand. A comprehensive verification process insures strict compliance with the International Demeter Production and Processing Standards, as well as applicable organic regulations in the various countries without a gap, through every step, from agricultural production to processing and final product packaging. The holistic Demeter requirements exceed government mandated regulations. Not only do they exclude the use of synthetic fertilisers and chemical plant protection agents in agricultural crop production, or artificial additives during processing, but they also require very specific measures to strengthen the life processes in soil and foodstuffs. Demeter farmers and processors actively contribute to shaping the future worth living by creating healthy food of distinctive taste, truly "Food with a Character". Demeter - the Brand you can trust to. Slovenia and Greece represent the leading countries in the application of Demeter standard. The Global Competitiveness Report (2016) and Agricultural policy costs are shown in Table 2. Croatia (141), Greece (129) and Serbia (128) are among the leading contries considering Agricultural policy costs. Albania (97) and Serbia (94) are the leaders in relation to competitiveness.
Table 2. Implementation of standards in the Balkan countries
Standards GLOBAL GAP. BRC PDO/ PGI/TSG Demeter Farms + processors+ distributors Agricultural policy costs WEF
Total Balkan countries 11,554 409 155 49 + 7 + 5 -
Albania 0 1 0 0 64
Bosnia and Hercegovina 269 2 0 0 124
Bulgaria 17 29 7 1 + 0 + 1 120
Croatia 141 14 13 2 + 0 + 1 141
Greece 10,764 265 106 21 + 6 + 2 129
Macedonia 14 1 0 0 23
Montenegro 0 0 0 0 27
Romania 46 51 4 1 + 0 + 0 69
Serbia 281 37 0 0 128
Slovenia 22 9 25 24 + 1 + 1 107
Source: QS, 2015; BRC, 2017; EU, 2017; DI, 2017; GLOBALG.A.P., 2012
Implementation of certification schemes on the Balkan retail market
Onwards, the Table 3 will present retail chain standards in the Balkan countries. 10 countries with their areas mainly on the Balkan peninsula are included here. Having only 5% of its area on the Balkans and therefore not being in the focus of our research, Turkey is excluded from this review. Given that the presented countries have suffered numerous economic shocks like transitions, economic crises, wars, they are still in the process of market building. This is particularly the case of former Yugoslav countries. Since the retail chains are increasingly oriented towards growth, the number of their certificates is larger. It is noticed that HACCP standard is the most common one, since its use is mandatory. The retail chains in our focus were chosen on the basis of GDI analysis per income. The majority of the retail chains using non-mandatory standards, the use of ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and Global G.A.L. and IFC is present in a very small proportion. Retail chains using these standards are at the top of the list by their market share and revenue. The overview of the realised income (in EUR) is directly related to the retailers' competitiveness, and the competitiveness of retail chains is reflected in the increased use of standards.
Table 3. Implementation of standards in Balkan retails
Country Retail chains Realised income (,000 EUR) Market share % Store number ISO 9001 ISO 14001 HACCP ISO 22001 GLOBAL G.A.P. BRC IFS
BiH Konzum Bih 781.14 8,76 234 - x x - x - -
Bingo 521.66 5,85 112 - - x - - - -
Tropic 434.81 4,87 62 - - x - - - -
Interex 244.17 2,74 24 - - x - - - -
Engrotus 143.16 1,6 27 - - x - - - -
Robot Komerc 140.08 1,37 22 - - x - - - -
Bulgaria Schwarz Group (Kaufland) 2,156.63 11,63 151 - - x - - - -
Billa Bulgaria 488.00 2,63 158 - - x - - - -
Fantastico 357.20 1,93 40 - - x - - - -
Marinopoulos 312.70 1,69 33 - - x - - - -
Maxima Bulgaria 169.37 0,91 61 - - x - - - -
Piccadily 125.00 0,67 20 - - x - - - -
CBA Asset Managment 69.60 0,38 144 - - x - - - -
Croatia Konzum Croatia 11,794.10 19,75 1,775 - x x - x - -
Schwarz Group (Lidl) 10,296.42 17,24 142 - - x - - - -
Plodine 4,006.40 6,71 77 - - x - - - -
SPAR Croatia 2,914.61 4,88 57 - - x - - - -
Tommy 2,491.00 4,17 191 - - x - - - -
Billa Croatia 1,768.44 2,96 97 - - x - - - -
KTC 1,416.40 2,37 36 - - x - - - -
Country Retail chains Realised income (,000 EUR) Market share % Store number ISO 9001 ISO 14001 HACCP ISO 22001 GLOBAL G.A.P. BRC IFS
Greeece Marinopoulos 1,833.76 7,25 579 - - x - - - -
Lidl Greece 1,726 6,82 240 - - x - - - -
Ahold Delhaize Central and Soutbeastern Europe 1,612.20 6,37 348 x - x - - - -
Sklavenitis 1,432.60 5,66 122 - - x - - - -
Metro AEBE 781.50 3,09 243 - - x - - - -
Masoutis 620.70 2,45 246 - - x - - - -
Macedonia, FYR VERO 6,461.64 4,38 11 - - x - - - -
Tinex 5,693.07 3,86 59 - - x - - - -
Engrotus 3,261.97 2,21 14 - - x - - - -
Skopski Pazar AD Skoplje 3,021.87 2,05 25 x - x - - - -
Ramstore Bulgaria 1,148.50 0,78 20 x - x - - - -
Romania Schwarz Group 15,654.29 10,95 329 - - x - - - -
Carrefour Romania 6,793.44 4,75 278 - - x - - - -
Auchan Romania 4,675.87 3,27 34 - - x - - - -
Ahold Delhaize Central and Soutbeastern Europe 3,865.60 2,70 580 x - x - - - -
Profi Romania 3,592.00 2,51 501 - - x - - - -
Rewe Group 1,896.77 1,33 198 - - x - - - -
Cora 1,758.66 1,23 11 - - x - - - -
Slovenia Merkator Slovenia 1,364.80 31,23 483 x x x x - - x
SPAR Slovenia 766.80 17,55 103 - - x - - - -
Engrotus 461.70 10,57 302 - - x - - - -
Hofer Slovenia 420.00 9,61 81 - - x - - - x
Lidl Slovenia 401.00 9,18 51 - - x - - - -
Eurospin 217.06 4,97 50 - - x - - - -
Leclerc 101.51 2,32 2 - - x - - - -
Country Retail chains Realised income (,000 EUR) Market share % Store number ISO 9001 ISO 14001 HACCP ISO 22001 GLOBAL G.A.P. BRC IFS
Serbia Ahold Delhaize Central and Soutbeastern Europe 127,041.90 12,24 409 x x - - - -
Merkator Serbia 100,211.00 9,66 332 x x x - - - -
Dis 22,835.00 2,20 24 x - - - -
Univerexport 22,109.00 2,13 189 x - x - - - -
Aman 12,036.00 1,16 200 - - x - - - -
Gomex 10,723.00 1,03 170 - - x - - - -
Super Vero 7,062.78 0.68 6 - - x - - - -
Albania Big Market (Albania) - 37 75 - - x - - - -
Marinopoulos (Greece) (Carrefour franchise) - 21 15 - - x - - - -
Conad (Italia) - 29 34 - - x - - - -
ECO Market (Albania) - 13 15 - - x - - - -
Montenegro Expo (Montenegro) (Delhaize franchise) - x - x - - - -
Roda (ex. Mercator) (Agrokor, Croatia) - 45 103 x x x x - - -
Voli (Montenegro) - 30 61 x - x - - - -
Lakovic D.O.O - 25 22 x - x - - - -
Source: Authors' own research (the data for 2017.)
Discussion and conclusions
Competitiveness of agro-food sector in the Balkan countries is based on the increased use of quality standards in the retail chains. A stronger orientation of a country's agro-food sector towards EU and world market export results in the larger number of certified companies. On the other hand, if the tendency is in favour of regional competitiveness, the number of certificates is smaller - which is the case in Serbia. This means that stimulating national certification according to quality standards is a prerequisite for increasing competitiveness of agro-food industry.
The Balkan countries mainly focus on the mandatory standards, whereas the non-mandatory ones are almost exclusively used by the country market leaders only. The leaders in the agro sector have realised their objective to be competitive by using standards and adding value to customers on one side, and by increasing the export on the other side. The more focused a provider is to expand their network and export,
the more they use the standards. This is also the case with the retail chains, which by expanding their network, expand the range of standards and therefore increase the level of competitiveness. International retailers have a significant role here, requiring suppliers' use of certain standards as a default, and therefore directly stimulating the rise in the use of standards and good practice.
Several important prerequisits can be distinguished in improving competitiveness of both agro-sector and retail chains: (1) harmonisation of practice with the quality system ISO 9000 standards and technical regulations; (2) quality certification of domestic companies and its correlation with export results - the role of quality certificates in practice; (3) foreign customers and their requirements related to the product quality; (4) WTO; (5) ISO 14000 - standards in the field of ecology.
Conflict of interests
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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