Producers and exports accuse NFSA of not issuing them with phytosanitary certificates

IPN.md

9 November 2022
15:53

The League of Importers and Exporters of Moldova accuses the National Food Safe Agency (NFSA) of not issuing phytosanitary certificates for exporting the harvest to Russia as from October 3. To draw the Agency’s attention and to receive explanations, representatives of Moldovan exporters and producers brought fruit in front of the Agency’s head office and unloaded a part of this at the entrance, IPN reports.

The League’s chairwoman Taisia Ciobanu said that the League as from October 3 has asked for explanations from the NFSA director Radu Musteața, but haven’s yet received an answer. “By this event, we wanted to remind of our problem and to receive explanations why they do not issue phytosanitary certificates to us for exporting our apples and grapes to the Russian Federation. At the moment, we have ten vehicles full with harvest. By October 3, we fulfilled all the conditions to get such certificates, but we are told that we do not meet the requirements. I consider the NFSA is interested in preventing the harvest in Moldova from being exported,” she stated.

NFSA director general Radu Musteața said the institution obeys all the legal procedures when issuing permissive documents. The Agency was informed by Russia’s food safety watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor that the export of vegetal products from most of Moldova’s districts is restricted as from August 15, except for Dubăsari district and districts from the left side of the Nistru. Some of the companies, having the legal address on the left side of the Nistru and in Dubăsari district, try to export vegetal products that actually come from districts subject to restrictions. In the case of phytosanitary certificates, the Agency determines the traceability of the products and does not issue certificates if inconsistencies are identified. This causes dissatisfaction.

On July 18, the Council of European Union adopted a regulation to temporarily liberalize trade in seven Moldovan agricultural products that hadn’t been yet fully liberalized. These include tomatoes, garlic, table grapes, apples, cherries, plums and grape juice. Thanks to liberalization, Moldova can at least double exports of these products – for a period of one year – to the European Union without any tariffs.

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The designated Prime Minister, Vasile Tofan, will request the Parliament’s vote of confidence for the cabinet of ministers and the government program today. The plenary session in which the deputies will examine the request is scheduled for 11:00 AM, reports IPN.

In accordance with the legislation, the Parliament gives the vote of confidence to the Government with the vote of the majority of elected deputies. Based on the vote of confidence granted by the Parliament, the President of the Republic of Moldova appoints the Government.

In the Government proposed by the designated Prime Minister Vasile Tofan, ten ministers from the current executive will be found, and four portfolios will go to new members of the cabinet. At the same time, the deputy prime ministers for reintegration and for European integration, Valeriu Chiveri and Cristina Gherasimov, will retain their positions.

Alexandru Gasnaș, presidential advisor, is designated for the position of Minister of Health. Radu Musteața, the director of the National Agency for Food Safety, is proposed for the leadership of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, while Victoria Belous, PAS deputy, who previously held the same portfolio, is put forward for the position of Minister of Finance. Dan Suruceanu, the current vice-administrator of the multimedia and sports complex Chisinau Arena, is proposed for the leadership of the Ministry of Culture.

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Producers and exports accuse NFSA of not issuing them with phytosanitary certificates

IPN.md

9 November 2022
15:53

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The fine is the latest development in the formal proceedings launched in 2024 regarding a possible violation of the EU Digital Services Act. The European Commission stated that AliExpress had failed to implement an effective system for identifying and removing illegal products and had underestimated the resources needed for content moderation.

According to the European Commission, the mechanisms for verifying product compliance could be easily circumvented, with unscrupulous sellers misclassifying products to avoid stricter requirements. European authorities also argue that the platform does not have enough staff to verify suspicious products.

At the same time, the European Commission found that a large number of illegal products, including unsafe toys and hazardous cosmetics, continued to be sold through AliExpress. In some cases, these products remained available on the platform for weeks after being reported. Furthermore, the Commission found that AliExpress had not properly enforced its own penalty policy and had allegedly allowed sellers of illegal products to remain active even after they had been penalized.

AliExpress now has until October 20 to submit an action plan outlining how it will address the issues raised by the European Commission. The Commission will then decide, within two months of receiving the plan, whether additional measures are necessary.

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