The Serbian government is in talks with the UK this week about a possible a twinning agreement that could help improve Serbian food safety testing and disease prevention.

This deal could help with the Serbian push to meet EU standards.

Serbian minister for agriculture Goran Zivkov will meet scientists from the Central Science Laboratory in York to discuss improvements to the country’s laboratory infrastructure, co-operation between laboratory staff, and training for undergraduates.

The talks are part of a wider tour of UK agriculture focussing on how the country can improve the quality of its agricultural production.

But any agreement between Serbia and the UK to encourage economic and agricultural co-operation will first have to be ratified by the EU.

Dr John Dennis, at the Central Science Laboratory, added that both parties could be in the position to sign a deal within two or three months.