Moldovan authorities have not received an official notification from Rosselkhoznadzor of a partial ban on the supply of fruits and vegetables, but they will take measures to strengthen quality control and diversify supplies.
This was said during a meeting of the Moldovan government on Wednesday. Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita said she held a working meeting with representatives of specialized organizations of fruit and vegetable producers and exporters, and discussed with them the information announced by Rosselkhoznadzor about the ban on the delivery of crops to Russia from 31 districts of Moldova, Gagauzia, Chisinau and Balti municipalities, starting August 15. The director general of the National Agency for Food Safety (ANSA), Radu Musteata, said that the agency has not yet received an official notification from the Russian side and, therefore, cannot provide details on pest problems and areas from which supplies to Russia are banned. He stressed that after the receipt of this document he will carefully analyze each of its points. "Of course, if necessary, we will increase the ANSA control in the phytosanitary area and we will inform the Russian side about it. We will analyze each area individually. We have not had any signals about cases of identification of dangerous quarantine objects so far, and it is unclear why the ban on deliveries of Moldovan fruits and vegetables is imposed for almost the entire country," the head of ANSA said. Natalia Gavrilita urged ANSA to seriously consider the problems indicated by the Russian side. "We have now significantly opened for ourselves the European Union market. We have to take care seriously about the quality of products and the preservation of existing markets. At the same time, we should also look for new markets," said the head of the Cabinet of Ministers. Natalia Gavrilita noted that, if necessary, the EU practice will be adopted to hire companies that will help to certify agricultural products for export. According to the head of the government, after finding solutions within ANSA, it is necessary to take other decisions in order to improve the situation, to expand the export of Moldovan fruit and vegetable products. The Premier said that export had considerably increased this year, markets had been diversified and there had been no complaints about the Moldovan products. She referred to the further diversification of the sales markets as an important priority, mentioning the need to sign new free trade agreements and to find new markets for the apples. Natalia Gavrilita said that now it is necessary to discuss with the processors the possibilities to increase the processing of fruit and vegetable products in the country, to intensify the work to find new markets and to take measures to overcome the crisis. // 10.08.2022 - InfoMarket.
