Minister of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment Ion Perju said the safety of the food products in Moldova is now ensured and the quality of the products made in the country is high. According to the minister, the Moldovan products are also appreciated abroad owing to their quality. The national producers of fresh fruit and vegetables cannot afford to use additives as the process is rather costly, IPN reports.
“Many cannot afford to use chemical additives in amounts in which the products become harmful to health. The central phytosanitary laboratory has all the capacities to test our products. So, today we can be sure of the safety of food inside the country. No matter how much and what we produce in the agri-food sector, food safety should be a priority either we produce for domestic consumers or for the foreign ones,” the minister stated in the program “Direct access” on NTV Moldova channel.
The minister also said that the fresh fruit and vegetables grown in Moldova can be found more in markets, than in supermarkets as the shop chains ask for large and stable volumes of products and the national producers cannot satisfy their demand. “The vegetable growing sector declined a lot. We no longer produce industrial quantities. Vegetables are grown in greenhouses during the season and it is very hard to sell in this period as the shelves are already occupied by those that import. Tomatoes and cucumbers are also sold in supermarkets, but not in all of them,” stated Ion Perju.
Carolina Linte, executive director of the National Association of Milk Producers, explained that all the milk processing companies now have self-control systems or they are not issued with a sanitary-veterinary authorization to work. “Today the enterprises are two-three times a month examined by inspectors of the National Food Safety Agency and are monitored. They take samples from the network, determine the quality and compliance and issue prescriptions if irregularities are identified,” stated Carolina Linte.
As regards the products imported from other countries, Carolina Linte said the foreign enterprises receive an authorization to export to the Republic of Moldova and, if there is no negative history as regards the quality of products, practically each fifth truck with merchandise is checked. The Moldovan inspectors do not have access to foreign companies that bring different products into Moldova.
