Governors urge wine makers to step up product quality and safety control

The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry called on the wine makers to toughen up control over the quality and safety of the exported alcoholic products. “The producers must realize that the consumers are always right. If they want to sell their products on a market, not necessarily the Russian one, they must meet the requirements on the given market,” Agriculture Minister Valeriu Cosarciuc said, when asked to provide details about the discussions on the export of Moldovan wines to Russia, Info-Prim Neo reports. “The businessmen know the rules – they should satisfy the requirements on a particular market, the Russian one in this case,” Valeriu Cosarciuc said. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Valeriu Lazar also stressed the necessity of fulfilling the conditions imposed on the foreign markets. “The quality requirements in Russia are probably stricter than in other countries to which Moldova exports wine products. A larger number of confirmative documents is required. But we must meet those conditions if we want to be present on this market,” Valeriu Lazar said. Asked why Rospotrebnadzor officials warned about a possible halt in Moldovan wine imports into Russia – the poor quality of the products or a political subtext, Lazar said he doesn’t know. “There can be certain political reasons, but as far as I know it was established that Moldova and Russia use different quality assessment systems for the wine products. Steps are being taken to remove the misunderstandings. The press reports that Russia imposed an embargo are erroneous. About 50% of the wines exported to Russia continue to be exported,” the Minister of Economy said. According to Valeriu Lazar, after 2006 Russia and Moldova signed two documents describing the requirements for the exported Moldovan wines (GOST and San PIN), but the producers do not know much about these documents. The quality and safety control system for the wines and the food products in general must be reviewed. There must be more than one quality certification institutions that should be in competition with each other, Lazar said.