UNDP Jobs - 45364- International Consultant in EU Approximating Moldo

International Consultant in EU Approximating Moldovan Food Safety Legislation for the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry (MAFI) and the National Food Safety Agency (NFSA)

Location :

Chisinau, MOLDOVA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

22-Apr-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

Relations between the Republic of Moldova (RM) and the European Union (EU) formally started with the signing of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) in 1994 that entered into force in 1998. The PCA established the basic principles of cooperation between RM and EU and was designed for a10 year period.

The Partnership and Cooperation Agreement will soon be replaced by an Association Agreement which includes a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA). The documents provide for political association and economic integration and have been initialed in Vilnius in November 2013.

For the Republic of Moldova the AA represents a reform agenda which is based on a comprehensive program of legal harmonization with EU norms.

Exceeding the classical arrangements of free trade, DCFTA provides not only a mutual opening of markets for most goods and services but requires a gradual rapprochement of norms and standards such as quality standards and rules, sanitary rules, intellectual property rights, trade facilitation, public procurement and competition, energy trade and other.
Except for European Economic Area and EU candidate states, never before has the EU opened its internal market to such an extent to a third country. This reality is possible due to the commitment of the Republic of Moldova to take over the acquis communautaire.

In exchange to effective implementation of EU legislation Moldova will gradually become part of the EU internal market.

A deeper economic integration through DCFTA will boost the country's economic growth, will create business opportunities and promote real economic modernization and integration into the EU. The direct result of establishing free trade area with EU is that citizens will benefit from higher quality and safer goods and services while manufacturers will be supported to access international markets.

UNDP and its international partners are committed to assist Moldova, through technical and financial assistance, in promoting costly legal and institutional reforms that DCFTA entails.

The Project “Building Institutional Capacity of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration (MFAEI)” aims at strengthening the institutional capacity of the MFAEI as lead institution in the AA negotiation process. In the same context, the Project seeks to contribute to developing EU integration capacities of key line ministries through aligning relevant policies, administrative and institutional arrangements, legislation, procedures and best practices to EU standards and requirements.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Project will contract an International Consultant to provide assistance to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry of the Republic of Moldova (further referred as MAFI) and to the National Food Safety Agency (NFSA) in approximating the legislative framework relevant for the food safety in line with EU norms and practices.

The expert will assess and report on key legislation in force, institutional arrangements, and national procedures relevant for the food safety area; develop, together with the beneficiaries, a mission action plan for addressing existing legal and normative gaps and deficiencies in the food safety area; provide support to the beneficiaries in drafting legislative amendments, operational and supporting documentation (e.g. legislative impact analysis) relevant for the food safety area and for the registration, authorization and official control of food chain entities by: a) critically assessing the duties and responsibilities of the competent authorities in the food safety area and providing advice in the delimitation of competences with a view to avoiding overlap and creating synergies; b) analyzing the food business operators’ registration process and offer guidance in setting up clear procedures for registration, authorization and official control; deliver a presentation on the findings and recommendations of the final mission report in a workshop with beneficiaries and key stakeholders (including representatives of the Centre for Legal Approximation).

Competencies

Strong analytical and drafting skills.
Ability to analyze, plan, communicate effectively with stakeholders and present ideas clearly and effectively.
Demonstrated interpersonal and diplomatic skills.
Ability to enter new environments, adapt quickly and produce immediate results.
Computer literacy - competent user of Microsoft Office programs.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualification:

Relevant Bachelor degree in veterinary, hygiene, or food safety or other related fields;
Relevant Master's Degree or PhD would be an asset.

Experience:

Minimum 5 years of work experience in food safety in one or more EU member or candidate states;
Minimum 5 years of experience in counselling and/ or implementing legal harmonization processes in the field of food safety;
Experience on production, handling, processing, packaging and transportation of food under the new “Food Hygiene Package”.and relevant Framework Regulations;

Experience in organizing food safety audits.

Language requirements:

Fluency in written and spoken English;
Knowledge of Romanian or Russian would be an asset.

Application procedure:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

Proposal: explaining why they are the most suitable for the work;
Financial proposal; in (USD, specifying a total lump sum amount and the number of anticipated working days);
Personal CV including past experience in similar projects and at least 3 references.

Financial proposal:

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals the financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including fee, taxes, travel, per diems, and number of anticipated working days).

Travel:

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel. In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Up to two travel missions are envisaged under this assignment, with a minimum 20 working days in Moldova.

Note:

For complete information about this vacancy, including detailed tasks and responsibilities, full and detailed description of the evaluation procedure which will be applied, as well as the UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract, please refer to the Terms of Reference, the Individual Consultant Procurement Notice published at the UNDP Moldova website, Jobs Section: http://www.undp.md/jobs/current_jobs.