INITIAL REPORT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS [November 2004] CONTENTS Paragraphs Page Introduction......................................................................................... 1-3 3 Article 1 ........................................................................................... 4-9 3 Article 2 ........................................................................................... 10-34 10 Article 3 ........................................................................................... 35-44 13 Article 6 ........................................................................................... 45-100 15 Article 7 ........................................................................................... 101-154 24 Article 8 ........................................................................................... 155-175 35 Article 9 ........................................................................................... 176-226 37 Article 10 ........................................................................................... 227-267 50 Article 11 ........................................................................................... 268-376 57 Article 12 ........................................................................................... 377-505 90 Article 13 ........................................................................................... 506-565 118 Article 15 ........................................................................................... 566-610 136 2 INTRODUCTION 1. The Republic of Albania adhered to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights with law no. 7511 of 8 August 1991, proclaimed by the President of the Republic by decree no. 18 of August 13, 1991. The Covenant was ratified on October 4, 1991 and entered into force with respect to Albania pursuant to article 27 (2) of the Covenant on January 4, 1992. 2. This report has been compiled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the basis of contributions from the relevant ministries and NGO-s through the permanent group of experts. 3. With slight exceptions the report contains information on legislation and practices relevant to the Covenant as of 31 December 2003. The information about the later developments will be given in the next periodic report. Article 1 Right to self-determination 4. The right to self-determination has been fully implemented in the Republic of Albania. Albania is an independent State and a parliamentary republic. It is a united and undivided State and the governance is based on a system of elections that are free, equal, general and periodic. The independence of the state and the integrity of its territory, dignity of the individual, human rights and freedoms, social justice, constitutional order, pluralism, national identity and inheritance, religious coexistence, as well as coexistence with, and understanding of Albanians for minorities are the bases of the state, which has the duty of respecting and protecting them. 5. These principles have been embodied in the provisions of the new Constitution that was approved by the Parliament (Kuvendi) on 21 October 1998, after people’s referenda. 6. The Republic of Albania submitted the initial report on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in February 2004. For further details on the right to self-determination provided by this article reference is made to the CCPR/C/ALB/2004/1. Disposal with natural resources 7. In addition to the above, article 59 of the Constitution under social objectives defines that the state, within its constitutional powers and the means at its disposal, aims to supplement private initiative and responsibility with healthy and ecologically adequate environment for the present and future generations and rational exploitation of forests, waters, pastures and other natural resources on the basis of the principle of sustainable development. 8. With the view to implementing the principles enshrined in the Constitution, a number of legal acts have been adopted to protect nature and natural resources. Also, several national projects, some of which supported by foreign donors have been prepared and implemented in the area of protection of nature and its resources. 3 9. The legal framework in the field of environment, despite of being newly adopted mainly in the last two years, practically speaking present a full panorama either in content or in the categories of normative acts, legal or sub-legal. However, the process of elaboration, improvement and fulfilment of the above-mention legal framework is ongoing. The legal framework in the area of environment is the following: Legal acts into force a. Law no. 8934, date 05.09.2002, “On environmental protection”, which constitutes the framework law for environmental protection. b. Law no. 8897, date 16.05.2002, “ On protection of air from pollution”, which aims at to guarantee the right of citizens to live in a uncontaminated air environment, through protecting of human being health, fauna, flora and natural and cultural values of Albanian environment from the air pollution. This is should be realized through the identification of sources and pollution classifications, the indicators of air quality, the limitation of air emission, the general obligations and the responsibilities of operators for air protection, supplying with environmental certificate as regards the activities which pollute the air as well as with the necessary administrative and penal measure. c. Law no. 8905, date 06.06.2002 “On the protection of the marine environment protection from pollution and damage”, which aims at to protect the maritime environment of Republic of Albania from the pollution and damage, prevention and its elimination, created by human activities in the costal areas which affected the water quality, the maritime recourses, the fauna and flora, human health as well as make difficult the normal development of the activities in this area. d. Law no. 8906, date 06.06.2002 “On protected areas”, aiming at the preservation, administration, management and sustainable utilization of protected areas and of their natural and biological resources, improvement of conditions as regards the development of environmental tourism, information and public education for economical profits, directly or indirectly, of the local population and of the private and public sector. e. Law no. 8990, date 23.01.2003 “On the environmental impact assessment”, the scope of which is to insure: a. The general assessment, integrated and in due time of environmental impact, of projects or activities need to be implemented, through the prevention and relieving of negative impact on environment. b. An open and impartial assessment process, through the participation of environmental non-governmental organization, of the project leader as well as of the legal and natural persons being specialized on this field. f. Law no. 8977, date 12.12.2002 “On tax system in the Republic of Albania”, in which, for the first time, has been included in the national taxes the following: 1. The carbon tax for gas, benzene, and gasoline 2. The tax for plastic packing of liquids (barrels, plastic bottles and plastic boxes of different measures), filled, produced in Albania and being imported for the following products: water, refreshing drink, fruit and vegetable juice, milk and its derivates, edible and lubricant oils and detergents. g. Law No. 9010, date 13.02.2003 “On environmental management of solid waste” Bylaws - Decisions of the Council of Ministers a. Decision of the Council of Ministers no. 103, date 31.03.2002 “On environmental monitoring in the Republic of Albania”; b. Decision of the Council of Ministers “On environmental report 1999-2000”; 4 c. Decision of the Council of Ministers “On approval of the environmental national action plan”; d. Decision of the Council of Ministers “On air emissions norms”; e. Decision of the Council of Ministers No. 676, date 20.12.2002 “On the declaration of the Albanian monuments of nature”; f. Decision of the Council of Ministers no. 531, date 31.10.2002 “ On the declaration of Butrint as a Ramsar area”; g. Decision of the Council of Ministers no. 364, 18.07.2002 “On approval of the coastal zone administration plan”; h. Decision of the Council of Ministers “On establishment of the environment Institute”. i. Decision of the Council of Ministers no. 266, date 24.04.2003 “On administrations of protected areas”; j. Decision of the Council of Ministers no. 267, date 24.04.2003 “On rules of protected and buffer zones”; k. Decision of the Council of Ministers no. 268, date 24.04.2003 “On specialists certification for the environmental impact assessment and environmental audit”; l. Decision of the Council of Ministers “On environmental license documentations and its elements”; m. Decision of the Council of Ministers “On temporary norms of air emission”. Database of projects entirely or partly financed by foreign donors for the protection of natural wealth and resources N° Project Financial Project state/ Budget Objective institution duration 1. National Water Phare finished in 400 000 To prepare the National Strategy Program 1997 ECU Water Strategy AL9306 2. Albanian National Phare finished in 400 000 To prepare a national Waste Management Program 1996 ECU plan for management of Plan AL9306 solid urban, industrial and hospital waste, also covering