Ukrainian, Romanian MPs agree to boost agricultural exports by 1.5 mln tonnes a month

MOSCOW. Feb 6 (Interfax) - The agrarian parliamentary committees of Ukraine and Romania have agreed to take joint steps to simplify veterinary and phytosanitary control on the border and increase the transshipment of Ukrainian agricultural products by 1.5 million tonnes a month, Ukrainian MP Sergei Labazyuk said.

"Enlargement and joint development of agricultural enterprises were discussed today with Romanian colleagues led by Agrarian Committee head Adrian-Ionut Chesnoiu. Our focus is on advanced processing. Both countries have a powerful agricultural sector. So, why not unite certain projects and complement each other's experience and resources?" Ukrainian media outlets quoted Labazyuk as saying on social media following the committee's joint meeting.

Ukrainian and Romanian MPs discussed the need to simplify and expedite veterinary and phytosanitary control, he said. The Romanian side said it had approved a memorandum introducing an extra 27 positions of specialists implementing such control on the border with Moldova.

An increase in the transshipment of Ukrainian agricultural products by 1.5 million tonnes can be achieved by boosting the Constanta Port's transshipment capacity by 1 million tonnes a month, by expanding Sulina's throughput capacity by 300,000 tonnes and by enhancing the throughput capacity of the railroad and automobile border crossings, the two countries' parliamentarians said.