Chisinau, WB Office in Moldova. Growing demand for better quality and safety in food products has posed great challenges to the agriculture sector of the Republic of Moldova. Improved sanitary and phytosanitary capacity would help Moldova’s agricultural producers and processors comply with tightening requirements and obtain access to higher-priced market segments, especially in the European Union. Improving domestic food safety, animal and plant health – these changes will, in turn, promote the growth of the agriculture sector and reduce poverty. Meanwhile, external assistance by donors and international institutions could facilitate the transition by enhancing the sharing of experiences as well as providing the funds needed for various reform and capacity-building activities.

In this context, the World Bank invited government institutions, private sector and agricultural producer groups, consumer representatives and donor partners on Thursday to discuss ongoing activities in the area of food safety and agricultural health management in Moldova. As a basis for the discussion, author Kees van der Meer presented the World Bank regional flagship publication “Food Safety and Agricultural Health Management in CIS Countries: Completing the Transition” and Moldova country report “Moldova Managing Food Safety and Agricultural Health: An Action Plan”.

The discussions that followed focused both on progress in this area as well as on the challenges for improvement. Many activities are already ongoing, but the participants pointed at the lack of coordination between agencies, and lack of human and financial resources. Many difficulties encountered by economic agents from the private sector in adapting to the new demands, and the necessary support were also highlighted.

The roundtable participants concluded that, although many initiatives have been initiated,  Moldova still has a long way to go in attaining a comprehensive food safety and agricultural health management system, and further a sustained and coordinated effort is required from all actors involved.

Presentations given during the event are available for download here in English and Romanian:
MDstandards&trade_en.ppt (210kb),  MDstandards&trade_ro.ppt (245kb).

Here you can also download the executive summary of Moldova report:
Food_safety_engEx.pdf (114kb),  Food_safety_romEx.pdf (115kb);

or entire report: MDFoodSafetyAgrHealthEng.pdf (569kb), MDFoodSafetyAgrHealthRom.pdf (780kb).