The national food safety system of Moldova was consolidated in accordance with the international standards within a project that was supported financially by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. Tudor Robu, Assistant FAO Representative to Moldova, in a project completion conference, said the obtained improvements will bring benefits to consumers, producers and processors operating in the food sector and to the food safety authorities, IPN reports.

The project was implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment in cooperation with the National Food Safety Agency. This was designed to strengthen the legislative framework in the field and to improve the National Food Safety Agency’s institutional capacities to apply the risk analysis framework and train food business operators in accordance with international control norms and to strengthen national bodies’ capacities.

There were formulated amendments to the national legislation and the plan for managing crises in the food sector. The national food control system was assessed based on international norms and the performance criteria worked out by FAO in cooperation with the World Health Organization.

“It is our duty before the consumers in the Republic of Moldova to have high-quality products and this project will help us to gain the trust of foreign consumers, especially from the European Union,” said Vasile Luca, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment.

The project was launched in 2014 and had a budget of US$400,000.