The Republic of Moldova is currently in the screening stage of the agricultural sector and in the process of aligning the legislative framework with that of the European Union. This process requires local producers to begin adjusting their production processes to meet the new EU standards.

The current situation of the agricultural sector, in the context of Moldova’s EU accession process, was discussed during the Rezoomat program, broadcast on RealitateaTV. Below you can find a selection of comments made during the discussion by the program’s guests: Ina Butucel, Deputy Secretary General at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry; Nicolae Tîltu, Director of the National Farmers’ Federation; and Tatiana Nistorică, member of the Economic Council under the Prime Minister and IPIS agriculture expert.

The full recording of the programe is available here: https://rlive.md/sansele-agriculturii-moldovenesti-in-contextul-aderarii-la-ue-in-dezbateri-la-rlive-tv/

Ileana Pîrgaru, journalist, “Realitatea” Press Group: On June 2nd, in Brussels, the screening phase in the field of agriculture began. What does this procedure entail?

Ina Butucel, Deputy Secretary General at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry: To provide context for today’s discussion, I would like to inform you that the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, in the area of European integration, is responsible for three chapters: Chapter 11, dedicated to agriculture and rural development; Chapter 12, which refers to food safety, sanitary and phytosanitary policies; and Chapter 13, dedicated to fisheries. In this context, the ministerial team has just returned from Brussels, where a bilateral screening meeting took place.

This means that the European Commission sent us a list of legislative acts, which we, as a ministry, together with other authorities, evaluated. We analyzed our current stage in transposing these provisions.

Ileana Pîrgaru: How prepared is the Republic of Moldova to access such a large market with such stringent requirements?

Tatiana Nistorică, Member of the Economic Council under the Prime Minister, IPIS expert in the field of agriculture: The challenge is significant because the norms that need to be transposed will have to be implemented, and implementation will be mandatory for producers. Implementing the new requirements also involves costs in terms of investments, both for equipping production enterprises and for ensuring the quality and safety of the products obtained. Therefore, the biggest challenge for the sector now is the financial source and the resources that need to be invested to cope.

If we specifically talk about agriculture, this sector in the Republic of Moldova, unfortunately, has a gap in the processing link across the entire value chain. While we are producers of agricultural products, we mostly export raw materials, which is a weak point. The focus should be here: developing the processing link in the production chain.

I would like to mention that, based on pre-accession funds, the allocation of money is also aimed at strengthening producers to fortify this link.

It is important for farmers to know that there will be funds directed towards strengthening capacities in the context of preparing the processing segment to be competitive on the EU market.

Nicolae Tîltu, Director of the National Farmers Federation: Processing not only adds value but also creates additional jobs and products with added value, which benefits both businesses and the state. Implementing processing would be extremely necessary. This would also generate the creation of infrastructure, not just agro-food, but also in the true sense of the word: roads, etc.

An important area where we should invest a lot is irrigation because without water, agriculture is not feasible. To be competitive, we need to know how to reduce production costs. If we have expensive water and energy, these bills will affect the selling price.

Ileana Pîrgaru: From the Moldova Growth Plan, of the 1.9 billion euros, part of the funds have been allocated for agriculture. It was decided to allocate them for the construction of irrigation systems. Why was this approach chosen instead of directly distributing the money to farmers?

Ina Butucel: These are investments that the Republic of Moldova is set to make for the horizontal development of the agricultural sector so that everyone equally benefits from these reforms and to align with the EU’s expectations regarding our degree of accession. Both the Ministry and the government are in the process of developing other forms of support for agricultural producers.

Ileana Pîrgaru: What should we do to have the capacity to absorb funds and make the most of these funds?

Tatiana Nistorică: Communicating and informing producers about the mechanisms, principles, and strategies for implementing policies is the first step in preparing the sector to absorb these funds.

Communication must be bilateral, both between the sector and authorities and between authorities and the sector.

Ileana Pîrgaru: Are farmers aware of the possibility of accessing pre-accession funds?

Nicolae Tîltu: For now, they rely only on state subsidies, but certainly, active farmers are aware and are interested in learning more. We definitely need to go more into the field and dispel the myths that exist, such as the idea that EU accession will not bring us benefits.

Ileana Pîrgaru: How will a producer from the Republic of Moldova cope with competition once they are on the same market as a European producer?

Ina Butucel: EU rules apply to all member countries. For those farmers who meet quality requirements, produce their products under certain conditions, ensuring food safety and compliance with all sanitary and phytosanitary requirements…

In the agricultural sector, with the support of development partners, several projects have been implemented that have contributed to added value. In these cases, it has been demonstrated that an agricultural product, such as plums, table grapes, cherries, if grown, stored, packaged, and transported under safe conditions regarding food safety, has been sold on the EU market, even reaching the top of the most sold products in the respective years.

Nicolae Tîltu: In Moldova, small farmers are certainly disadvantaged, and it is important for us, both in the pre-accession process and in the future, to reduce the gap between small and large farmers. The number of small farmers is declining. Moreover, they are aging and do not have heirs to continue these small family businesses. In the future, we will witness the globalization of agriculture; the number of small farmers will decrease, and larger companies will emerge.

How can small farmers respond to these challenges? Through cooperation. Even for large farmers, it is very difficult to penetrate the EU market. To enter the market with competitive products, you must unite. Cooperatives are imperative. The share of cooperatives in the EU is very high.

Ileana Pîrgaru: Perhaps our authorities should negotiate a transition period for our products.

Ina Butucel: At the end of the legislative and institutional system evaluation process, we will develop a negotiation position for each chapter. For topics where necessary, transition periods are requested. The experience of countries that joined in the last three accession waves has shown that these periods are negotiated; certain grace years are granted, allowing the state and/or business environment to prepare to adopt these practices, technologies, and provisions that we must comply with upon EU entry.

Nicolae Tîltu: Let’s say that in the horticultural sector, for fruits, we have utilized quotas, and we can penetrate other markets. In other areas, such as livestock, we cannot even meet the domestic market’s needs because we import production even in the off-season. Here, we need to help farmers increase their capacities to sell their production.

Ileana Pîrgaru: We’ve heard from all farmers in the Republic of Moldova that once we join the EU, our market will be flooded with products from EU countries, and local producers will lose ground in this competition. How do you respond?

Ina Butucel: Well, we already have imported products, and plenty of them. Where there is quality, where we have implemented new technologies, these products find their place on the market. The same question was asked by farmers from countries that joined the EU before the Republic of Moldova. Agriculture demonstrates a significant contribution to the community budget; policies are very dynamic, and the financial instruments provided by the EU for agricultural development are continuously reviewed and supplemented with funds so that agricultural businesses are profitable. Certainly, the opportunities offered by the European market, in terms of sales, finding buyers, and diversifying products, should be the motivating factors.

The debate took place within the project “CAPACITY4EU – Civil Society for EU Accession “, which is supported by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany in the framework of its civil society cooperation programe.