Law on Vine and Wine to help settling down the „Wine Crisis”

Even if the Law on Vine and Wine was approved on March 10, before halting exports to Russia, its new amendments will facilitate resolving Moldovan wine issue. The deputy head of the Wine Technologic Policy Department of the Agency "Moldova-Vin", Valeriu Cibotari, shares this opinion. According to him, the Law on Vine and Wine was adopted 12 years ago, being the first legislative act regulating legal relations witwin agricultural branches. Within this period, once Moldova joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) and International Vine and Wine Office (OIV), the requirements towards the quality of wine production have increased, as well as to producing and selling conditions of wine goods, Cibotari noted. Valeriu Cibotari mentioned that in the revised law are stipulated more strict requirements towards wine makers and are set the norms for adding sugar in must and wine. The controls over wine production and quality, directed for selling on internal market, as well as for the export, also are toughened. According to new provisions, primary winning units are obliged to present to the Agency declarations about the volume of the received grapes, technologic correcting procedures of applied wines, wine stocks and the forecast for the assortment of wine production for the next year. The record of row material for producing basic must and wine goods will be made automatically, being determined its quantity and quality. The data will be registered by memory record devices and transmitted on-line to Agro-Industrial Agency „Moldova-Vin”. At the same time, for goods exclusively destined for export, at the request or acceptance of the importer, the declared requirements have to be set in the supply contracts, without damaging the image of Moldovan wines, according to the provisions of the importing country. In case the provisions of this law are violated, different sanctions will be applied, including withdrawal of the license. In the opinion of the representative of „Moldova-Vin”, all these actions will contribute to increasing the level of the quality of Moldovan wines and, of course, to enlarging of selling markets. The revised Law on Vine and Wine entered in force on 19 May 2006.