After a break of more than two years, a meeting of experts in the field of veterinary and phytosanitary was held

On September 26, 2024, a meeting of experts from both banks of the Nistru River in the field of veterinary and phytosanitary was held in the Chișinău office of the OSCE Mission to Moldova, via videoconference.

During the meeting, topics related to ensuring compliance by consumers and economic agents of the Transnistrian region with the national regulatory framework governing the veterinary and phytosanitary sphere, as well as the legislation of the European Union, transposed by the Republic of Moldova, were discussed.

In this context, the process of implementing the current standards in the Transnistrian region in the sphere of providing the population with safe and harmless food products, as well as ensuring their access to the single market of the European Union, was considered. Thus, experts from Tiraspol were informed about the obligation to comply with uniform standards applied in the veterinary and phytosanitary sphere by all economic agents that produce, import or export products of animal and plant origin.

At the same time, the topic of preventing the placing in the trade networks of eggs from farms and herds positive for Salmonella Enteritidis and Salmonella Typhimurium was addressed by the experts from the National Agency for Food Safety (NAFS), being made aware of the information regarding the obligation to possess the certificates of conformity issued by NAFS to economic agents who place this product on sale.

Also, during the meeting, the profile specialists from Chișinău came with the recommendations and requests for rigor in the chapter of controlling and combating outbreaks of officially notifiable diseases, in the context of the lack of notifications from veterinarians in the Transnistrian region regarding the appearance and evolution of animal diseases, according to the requirements established by the World Organization for Animal Health. In the same vein, the representatives of Tiraspol were asked for the responsible use of veterinary drugs and phytosanitary products, with repeated information about the ban on the use of products that are not included in the Nomenclature and State Registers of the Republic of Moldova at the units of animal and fish breeding.

During the dialogue, experts from Chișinău once again raised the problem of the accessibility of food transportation to commercial enterprises and catering establishments located in settlements on the left bank of the Nistru River controlled by the constitutional authorities through land checkpoints, emphasizing the need to eliminate barriers artificially supported by Tiraspol.

Also, the representatives of Chișinău came with clear answers to the questions regarding the import of fertilizers and pesticides, the procedure for obtaining the permissive documents in this regard, resulting from the obligation to contain them in the Register of homologation of phytosanitary products and fertilizers. At the same time, the experts emphasized the importance of compliance by the economic agents on the left bank of the Nistru River with the requirements of the national regulatory framework and the provisions of the European Union legislation in the field.

The experts agreed on maintaining a constructive dialogue on the issues concerning the veterinary and phytosanitary fields, in order to identify relevant solutions to solve them.

The meeting was convened at the initiative of Chișinău.