Agriculture Ministry proposes creation of wine agency

The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry is proposing that a National Wine and Vine Office should be created to implement state policies in the area of vine-growing, wine production and marketing, Info-Prim Neo reports. Agriculture Minister Vasile Bumacov said that the project is very important, considering that this sector of agriculture involves 148,000 hectares of land, tens of thousands of jobs, numerous wineries and processing facilities, and wine is the most exported and most competitive product in Moldova. “The Office will be an agency to which the state will transfer most prerogatives in the area so that it is capable of self-administration and self-promotion”, said Vasile Bumacov. The Office will be financed from the Vine and Wine Fund, composed of contributions equally split between the government and the private sector. The agency will be tasked, among other with promoting the marketing of Moldovan wine both domestically and internationally, with monitoring production capacity, and with proposing policies and legislation. It will be governed by a board of 11 members: 3 delegated by the Ministry and 8 by the wine-making community. CEED II/USAID Wine Industry Manager Diana Lazar revealed that the wine will have a special legal status differentiating it from alcoholic beverages, which will entail less strict state regulation. The project was developed by the Agriculture Ministry and will be subjected to public debates before being submitted to Parliament for consideration.