Agriculture & Food

European Commission official website news on June 9: The European Commission passed a proposal on the same day to more than double the import quota of seven zero-tariff agricultural products in Moldova within one year. This is a show of EU solidarity, aiming to help Morocco deal with the market losses caused by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

The seven products include plum, grape, apple, tomato, garlic, cherry and grape juice. The total value of duty-free products is expected to be around 55 million euros, of which 27 million euros for table grapes and 10 million euros for plums. EU Agriculture Commissioner Wojciechowski said he hoped the unprecedented measure would support Moldovan producers to ease some market pressure in the short term.

In the long run, it is recommended that Moldovan agricultural practitioners invest in high value-added industries to further improve the quality of agricultural products, which will help consolidate Moldova's position in the EU market.

The Commissioner further stated that the EU stands ready to provide technical assistance. Currently, the EU and Moldova are negotiating an increase in road transport routes, which will greatly facilitate trade flows between Moldova and the EU. In addition, the EU has provided Moldova with substantial financial assistance to ease the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.