Chisinau City Hall looking for levers against unauthorized trade

The measures taken in Chisinau against unauthorized trade are inefficient and the situation can change only if amendments are made to the Code of Administrative Offenses, which would allow the police to impose penalties and confiscate and destroy perishable goods, the head of the Trade, Public Food and Service Provision Division Vladimir Nirca said in a meeting at the City Hall, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. Currently, the police can only draw up reports that can be later sent to court for punishing the offenders. But these measures turned out to be inefficient, said Vladimir Nirca. According to him, the municipal authorities made repeated approaches to the Government to formulate amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses and send the bill to Parliament for approval, but nothing was done. “The legislation practically tied the hands of the police and the local public administration,” said the official. He also said that there are more than 1,000 free places for selling perishable goods at the agrifood markets working in Chisinau, but the vendors prefer to trade on the street. Deputy mayor Mihai Furtuna said that by November the farmers will be able to sell their products at stalls and directly from trucks and trailers, within farmers’ markets. “The farmers’ markets are designed to support the national producers and to create relatively goods conditions for them,” he stated. There are 44 markets in the municipality of Chisinau, 21 of whom are agrifood markets.