Independent experts welcome adoption of Food Safety Strategy

The independent analysis center “Expert-Grup” has welcomed the adoption by the Government of the 2011- 2015 Food Safety Strategy, in line with the European Commission's recommendations on instituting a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area between Moldova and the European Union, Info-Prim Neo reports. Presenting the latest issue of Euromonitor on Firday, Expert-Grup director Valeriu Prohnitchi noted, however, that not all the current objectives required by the Strategy have been fulfilled. For example, Prohnitchi mentioned that the Sanitary Agency for the safety of animal-origin food has not yet been reorganized into a Food Safety Agency. “Things also move quite slowly with improving interaction between the Customs Service and certain services that are located near the border and have food safety functions. Producers and importers of animal-origin food encounter serious difficulties with customs clearance procedures. They have to travel back and forth from the customs checkpoint at the border and authorities in Chisinau”, said Prohnitchi. Positive examples include the adoption of the of the Action Plan on the removal of tariff and non-tariff trade barriers. Less positive are the results achieved in reducing and removing technical barriers in trade, and in implementing sanitary and phyto-sanitary standards. Concerning competition, while more progress has been achieved than before, a number of important pieces of legislation have not yet been adopted, said the expert. Euromonitor appears with the financial support of the Soros Foundation Moldova and within the framework of the project “EU-Moldova Relationship: Monitoring Progress in the Eastern Partnership Context”.