The Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Ion Kiku, announced the extension in 2020 of the duty-free regime for the export of five categories of agro-food products, including fruits and berries, from Moldova to Russia, which has been in force since the beginning of this year. The corresponding agreement was reached during a recent visit of the head of the Moldovan Cabinet of Ministers to Russia and negotiations with a Russian counterpart.
Also, the parties agreed on the expansion of the list of Moldovan agricultural producers and traders authorized to supply fruit and berry products to Russia. At the moment, only Moldovan enterprises that are included in a special list of suppliers authorized by the Rosselkhoznadzor are entitled to export agricultural products to the Russian market. Currently, this list includes a little over 150 enterprises, while no more than a third of them are active exporters of fruits and vegetables.
In the summer of this year, in response to a request from the Rosselkhoznadzor, the leadership of the National Food Safety Agency (ANSA) prepared and sent to the Russian office an additional list of potential fruit exporters that included 58 enterprises with plantations, cooling facilities, and sorting and packaging lines. To date, the list has not yet been approved by the Russian side.