After making a first attempt to find new export markets, the Moldovan producers in the last six months of last year exported 84,000 tonnes of apples to new markets. Alexandru Ciobanu, of the National Food Safety Agency, has told IPN that the largest quantities of Moldovan apples were exported to the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria.

“It’s early to compare the new markets with Russia’s market. Our products should be appreciated first, but their taste is much better than that of the Polish apples or of the apples produced in other states. This was a first attempt. The Moldovan apples are indeed appreciated. For example, the apple exports to Kazakhstan this year rose eight times,” stated Alexandru Ciobanu.

The requirements on the new markets are similar to those on the Russian market and the markets of the member states of the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization, of which Moldova forms part. “Additionally, some of the countries can ask for tests for pesticides. Things differ from state to state. There are also basic requirements, one of which is not to allow quarantine objects to affect the exported apples,” said the head of the Plant Protection and Health Division.

Even if containers with Moldovan apples are sent practically daily to the new markets, the remaining quantities of apples are still significant. The National Food Safety Agency is waiting for an answer from Russia as to the resumption of the import of apples from Moldova.