The National Food Safety Agency hasn’t been informed about the Russian Federation’s decision to ban the import of agricultural products from almost all the country’s districts as from August 15 and cannot therefore provide details about the pests invoked by the Russian side. In connection with this situation, Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița said that new markets for selling Moldovan products should be identified, IPN reports.

“We have very clear short and medium-term objectives. We will devote special attention to the digitization of processes, will strengthen the capacities of inspectors so that they have the equipment needed to perform inspections. We will conduct a broad analysis and will intervene,” the National Food Safety Agency’s director Radu Musteața stated in the meeting of the Cabinet.

Premier Gavrilița said that measures should be taken and solutions should be identified. Special attention should be devoted to the diversification of markets, primarily for selling apples. Also, solutions should be identified at internal level.

The Russian Federation from August 15 will ban the import of agricultural products from almost all the districts of the Republic of Moldova. Representatives of Russia’s food safety watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor said the reason for the ban is the recurrent identification of dangerous quarantine objects in Moldovan products that enter Russia. According to Rosselkhoznadzor, 11 types of pests were identified for 93 times in Moldovan products in 2021 and 2022.