Moldovan Agriculture Ministry, Russian ambassador in Chisinau discuss ban on deliveries of crop products to Russian market

CHISINAU. Aug 16 (Interfax) - Moldovan Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Vladimir Bolea at a meeting with Russian Ambassador in Chisinau Oleg Vasnetsov on Tuesday advocated the creation of a working group involving domestic and Russian experts to investigate the detection of quarantine pests in Moldovan crop products.

"Moldovan authorities have always sought to ensure the high quality of products and to protect both local and foreign consumers along the entire food chain," Bolea said.

A meeting on the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance's (Rosselkhoznadzor) decision to suspend as of August 15, the import of Moldovan agricultural products was held with representatives of the National Agency for Food Safety (ANSA) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration (MFAEI), the press service for the Agriculture Ministry told Interfax.

Bolea proposed "in order to avoid uncertainties and to build up confidence in the food safety system of the Republic of Moldova that experts of the two countries should visit the warehouses, collect data, identify the existing risks and eliminate them."

For his part, Vasnetsov said he hoped for proper professional relations between producers and consumers, promising to do everything possible "to accelerate the process of investigating the circumstances of what happened, setting a date for negotiations with the responsible institutions of the Russian Federation, including the organization of visits if necessary."

On August 9, Yulia Melano, advisor to the head of Rosselkhoznadzor, told reporters that Russia's watchdog is banning imports of crop farming products from 31 districts of Moldova, as well as the autonomous region of Gagauzia and the municipalities of Chisinau and Balti starting August 15. She said Rosselkhoznadzor was forced to impose the restrictions because it repeatedly found dangerous objects subject to quarantine in Moldovan products imported into Russia.

Moldovan authorities believe that Rosselkhoznadzor's decision was made for political reasons. ANSA said it "has not received any complaints from Rosselkhoznadzor regarding the quality of crop products." The Russian regulator dismissed Chisinau's allegations about the politically motivated decision.