The adoption of the bill on the development of organic agriculture in Moldova is much overdue. The law was to be passed by Parliament last year and farmers ascertain organic agriculture wasn’t a priority for the MPs. The opinions were stated in an open dialogue that involved business entities operating in the sector and Minister of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment Georgeta Mincu, IPN reports.

Farmer Alexei Micu suggested amending the not yet adopted bill so as to stipulate punishments for the fraudulent use of the terms “ecological”, “biological”, “organic”. “There are already cases when labels that mislead the consumers are placed on products that are not grown according to the principles of organic agriculture for marketing purposes and this creates a false impression that the product is ecological,” he stated.

Academician Boris Boincean noted that Moldova has all the conditions for producing seeds. However, most of the seeds are imported, including genetically modified ones, and this affects the country’s food security. Stricter state control is needed on imports. “The firms declare on their own responsibility that the seeds are not genetically modified. I want to believe, but sometimes I need guarantees,” he said.

Vice director of the Institute for Plant Genetics, Physiology and Protection Vladimir Todiraş spoke about the protection of plants from pests. He said that there are two types of such preparations in Moldova, but the farmers choose imported products that are not always suitable for the plants grown in Moldova.

For her part, Minister Georgeta Mincu stated she will propose setting up a commission or a working group that will focus on ecological farming and all the suggestions formulated by farmers will be included in strategic plans. She will demand to send the bill on the development of organic agriculture back for reexamination so that this is supplemented with new actions that need to be taken during the next few years.