Director general of the National Food Safety Agency (NFSA) Gheorghe Gaberi stated for IPN that it is normal for some of the fruits to contain pests. The consignments of plums that were returned from Russia until now because they contained the Oriental fruit moth, which is a quarantine object on the territory of this state, have been examined in Moldova and no irregularities were identified in them.
“This year we have exported 14,700 tonnes of plums to the EU, to practically all the member states, starting with the UK, France, the Netherlands and ending with Romania, Poland and the Baltic States, and irregularities were identified nowhere. Only the Russian Federation found faults as this moth is an object for quarantine there. Maybe there was one moth in one plum and they saw it when it came out. We do not want to doubt the quality of the inspections performed in Russia, but this pest is something normal in such goods,” stated Gheorghe Gaberi.
He has told IPN that the consignment of plums sent back from Russia on October 17 will be inspected in Moldova according to procedures and a decision as to how to use the products will be taken later. The plums will be processed industrially or will be consumed fresh if the moth is not detected in them. According to international norms, if a pest is found in a fruit, fumigation is performed to eliminate the pest. Not all the checkpoints in Russia have such installations and the goods are thus sent back.
According to Gheorghe Gaberi, the Agency’s role is to monitor the fruit since the orchard is planted until the fruit reaches the consumer and to determine not only quarantine objects, but also the excessive quantity of nitrates, pesticide residues and other irregularities. Last year, there were inspected food products worth US1 billion that were later exported.
On October 17, a truck with 20 tonnes of plums was sent back from Russia to Moldova because the Oriental fruit moth (Grapholita molesta busck) was detected in the plums. At the start of September, 19 tonnes of Moldovan plums were returned from Bryansk region for the same reason. On September 29, 20 tonnes of plums were sent back to Moldova from Russia’s Kursk region. The same moth was detected by experts of Russia’s food safety watchdog Rospotrebnadzor in another 19 tonnes of fresh plums that were to reach Kursk region on August 2 and the truck could not continue its way.
