Montenegro and the European Union provisionally closed two accession negotiating chapters on 6 November 2026, bringing the total provisionally closed to 23 of 33. The terms set transition periods and compliance obligations for food-sector businesses, while requiring six border control posts to be fully equipped and operational on the day Montenegro joins the bloc.
The chapters cover food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policy (Chapter 12) and the free movement of goods (Chapter 1). The conditions for Chapter 12 are set out in the EU’s common position, document AD 88/26, adopted at the accession conference in Brussels on the same date. The EU accepted Montenegro’s requests for transition periods in some areas, subject to specified conditions, limits and obligations.
Transition periods for food businesses
Some meat, milk, fish and egg establishments that do not meet all structural requirements on the date of accession may continue operating under an approved transition regime until 31 August 2030. The arrangement is limited to a number of establishments that need more time to make improvements. The European Commission will identify and publish their names and addresses in due course.
Products from establishments covered by the structural transition may be sold only in Montenegro or in third countries, in line with relevant EU rules. They cannot be marketed in other EU member states. Such products must carry a special health or identification mark that distinguishes them from products made in establishments meeting EU requirements.
Montenegro must monitor implementation of its national programme for upgrading establishments on an ongoing basis and send the European Commission progress reports every six months. Each establishment covered by the regime must have an individual improvement plan with deadlines for correcting deficiencies. Establishments that fail to meet EU requirements at accession and are not included in an approved transition regime must stop operating.
Those allowed to continue under the regime will also have to cease operations if they have not remedied deficiencies by the end of the transition period. The conditions therefore link temporary permission to operate to establishment-specific improvement plans and deadlines, rather than granting a general exemption to the sectors concerned.
Dairy controls and market access
A separate regime will allow Montenegrin dairies to receive and process raw milk that does not meet the hygiene requirements of EU Regulation 853/2004 until 31 December 2030. The permission is conditional on strict separation, processing, inspection and traceability requirements. Milk that meets EU standards and milk that does not must remain separate from the farm through to the finished product.
The separation rules cover collection routes, storage and treatment, as well as production batches, packaging and labelling. Raw milk that fails to meet the standards must be heat-treated at a minimum of 71.7 degrees Celsius for 15 seconds, or processed using another method that achieves an equivalent level of safety.
Montenegro’s competent authorities must carry out tests and unannounced inspections to verify separation, and conduct laboratory analyses of raw milk and finished products. Products made from milk that does not meet the prescribed conditions may be sold only on the domestic market or in third countries, in line with relevant EU rules; they will not have access to the EU single market. Those products must bear a special identification mark.
Montenegro must send the European Commission annual reports on progress in improving raw milk quality. The first is due by 31 December 2028 and the second by 31 December 2029. Deliveries of raw milk that fails to meet the requirements must end no later than 31 December 2030.
Official status confirming that farms and herds are free of bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis is a prerequisite for placing raw milk on the market. The agreed transition periods, derogations and traditional practices cannot replace that requirement.
Animal by-products and border infrastructure
Montenegro has committed to establish a system for the safe collection and disposal of animal by-products not intended for human consumption, in line with EU rules. The plan, last updated in April 2026, includes building livestock burial grounds and collection centres, and arranging transport of relevant categories of by-products to neighbouring countries.
The country must build a processing plant for certain categories of animal by-products by 1 January 2031. The EU expects Montenegro to continue implementing the plan, including resolving outstanding regional cooperation issues over possible exports of some categories. Before accession, Montenegro must report on implementation of the plan; after accession, it must report on construction of the plant at least twice a year until February 2031.
The EU will monitor the establishment of the collection and disposal system, including the categorisation of by-products and oversight of food-production establishments and the handling of animal by-products. The requirements cover both the infrastructure for dealing with the materials and the supervision of how they are managed.
Six border control posts must be completed and upgraded, fully equipped and operational on the day of accession. They are at Golubovci Airport, Božaj, the Port of Bar, Kula, Dobrakovo and Ilino Brdo. All must comply with EU rules governing the entry of animals and goods.
Particular attention will go to the post for live animals, where animal-welfare checks will also take place. Montenegro must regularly report on construction, equipment and operational readiness, including any delays and measures to address them. At least two reports are due by July and December 2027.
The EU position also requires the TRACES system to be used at every border control post and by all inspectors, in line with EU rules. TRACES is used to monitor and control trade in animals and products of animal origin.
Laboratories and staffing requirements
The EU noted progress in Montenegro’s planning for a network of national reference laboratories, but said work must continue so that all relevant laboratory capacity is operational by accession. Montenegro plans to designate the reference laboratories located within its territory by December 2026; the deadline for designating laboratories that will be located in EU member states is June 2027.
The EU has specifically called for completion, accreditation and effective operation of the National Reference Phytosanitary Laboratory. All laboratories carrying out official controls must be accredited to ISO/IEC 17025.
A revised action plan to strengthen the administrative capacity of Montenegro’s Food Safety, Veterinary and Phytosanitary Affairs Administration provides for hiring 147 staff by 2030. It schedules 26 hires in 2026, 31 in 2027 and 30 a year in each of 2028, 2029 and 2030.
Montenegro is expected to report twice a year on recruitment to fill staffing gaps. The common position also requires continued reporting on the border posts, animal by-product system and milk-quality improvements, with the stated deadlines extending through 2031.
