Prime minister chairs working meeting with Moldovan wine-makers

Chisinau, 2 May /MOLDPRES/ - Prime Minister Vlad Filat today chaired a working meeting with Moldovan wine-makers and wine-growers, the government's communication and press relations department has reported.

The participants in the meeting discussed the situation in the wine-making sector, ways to enhance the quality of Moldovan wines, as well an eventual liberalization of Moldovan wines' export.

The prime minister highlighted the good results attained in the above sector, among which: the extension of the sale markets for the Moldovan wines, the resumption of exports to Russia, the doubling of the export quota to the EU, as well as the shipment of Moldovan wines to China.

Filat drew the participants' attention on the fact that due to the agreements reached with representatives of the Russia Federation, the foreign trade with wine products will be liberalized on the Russian market. Thus, Moldovan producers will have the opportunity to export bottled and bulk wines not only through those two existent terminals, but also via all the customs points. At the same time, the list of enterprises having the right to export wines to Russia will be enlarged.

At the same time, the prime minister stressed that the liberalization of exports should not affect the quality of the Moldovan wines, demanding an increased attention in this respect. Filat asked the Moldovan wine makers to ensure a high quality of export wines, whereas the relevant state institutions, to secure the control of wines' quality. In this respect, the Agency for Food Safety, due to be set up soon, will play an important role.

At the same time, Filat asked the economic agents operating in the wine-making field to fully cover the exports' quota of the wines both to the EU and to the Chinese markets.

The prime minister stressed that all the companies should observe the market rules. In case they commit infringements, they should be stripped of the right to export wines.

Moldovan Agriculture and Food Ministry, Vasile Bumacov stressed the need to reform the wine-making and wine-growing sectors, following the example of other wine-making countries. The minister said that sanctions will be applied in each case in particular, without expecting notifications from the importing countries, if the companies to not observe the quality norms.

For his part, Academician Boris Gaina praised the latest actions undertaken to reform the wine-making and wine-growing sectors, which had contributed to the improvement of wines' quality. Gaina said that the quality of our wines had been proved by the distinctions awarded at the international specialized exhibitions and by the enhancement of the grapes' quality.