The American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine welcomes amendments to procedure of state import control conducted by Competent Authority of the Republic of Moldova (hereinafter – ANSA) over food of non-animal origin.
Discriminatory requirements applied to Ukrainian exporters were terminated by Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Moldova #205 dated April 3, 2019 (hereinafter – Resolution) after several rounds of negotiations initiated by the business community with engagement of responsible Ministries of Ukraine, State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, Embassy of Ukraine to the Republic of Moldova.
Some of the requirements were amended by the Resolution as proposed by the Chamber, namely:
- the need to send ANSA special notification regarding a preliminary date and time of batch arrival to the border checkpoint;
- obligation to provide every batch of certain food of non-animal origin exported to the Republic of Moldova with a health certificate issued by the competent authority of exporting country (hereinafter – health certificate).
According to the new rules, such food should be accompanied with a document confirming food safety and quality issued by the exporter itself. At the same time, health certificate is required for food of non-animal origin that should pass special so-called joint checks (control conducted over food operators that previously violated food safety legislation of the Republic of Moldova). Food products for joint checks are incorporated in a list published at the official ANSA website.
At the same time, despite the progress made, there are still some risks for exporters caused by ambiguity in the process of updating the mentioned list.
The American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine in cooperation with key responsible stakeholders will continue negotiations with the Republic of Moldova in terms of export procedures facilitation.
