Licensing in the vine-growing and wine-making sector could be replaced with a new mechanism for keeping record of producers in this area, particularly by introducing a Vine-Growing and Wine-Making Register, under a bill recently approved by the Government, Info-Prim Neo reports. Agriculture and Food Industry Minister Vasile Bumacov has noted that the legislation in this sector is based on obsolete regulations which are ineffective and excessive, and this prevents the sector from growing. Excluding licensing could ease entry into the market to the small and mid-sized winemakers that today often fail to meet the rigorous requirements of a license. The proposed legislation also simplifies rules for evaluating the conformance of wines, clarifies a number of aspects of wine traceability, and regulates the geographical indication system for wines. The bill also transfers the function of implementing policies in the area from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry to the National Office of Vine and Wine, an agency under the Ministry. The Office will administrate the country brand “Moldova”, under which the Moldovan wines exported abroad will be promoted. Another new mechanism proposed is a financing formula for the development of the sector, under which the state and the private sector will make contributions on a fifty-fifty basis into a Vine and Wine Fund, following the examples of such countries as Austria, Australia or Poland.