Improving food safety in the Republic of Moldova

Project description

Title: Improving food safety
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Republic of Moldova
Lead executing agency: National Food Safety Agency (NFSA)
Overall term: 2015 to 2018

Context

As part of the Association Agreement signed between Moldova and the European Union (EU) in June 2014, Moldova has undertaken to adapt its domestic food safety legislation to conform with European laws. The EU requires that the competent authority in an exporting country properly monitors compliance with food safety standards by companies operating in that country. In the case of Moldova, the body responsible for food safety, and for the closely linked plant and animal health measures, is the National Food Safety Agency (NFSA). However, the Agency currently lacks the capacity to carry out the kind of independent controls necessary to meet the provisions of the Association Agreement. Once the NFSA can provide appropriate evidence, Moldovan companies will be entitled to go through the approval procedure for inclusion in the EU exporter list. In turn, stable trade relations with the EU will contribute to Moldova’s economic growth.

Objective

The NFSA performs official controls of food products of animal origin in compliance with the provisions of the Moldova-EU Association Agreement.

Approach

This project supports the NFSA in drafting and introducing inspection procedures for foods of animal origin along the entire production chain and in line with the Association Agreement with the EU. It is working mainly in the following areas:

  • Introduction of working procedures: The project supports the development of procedures to ensure inspections are carried out in accordance with unified approach in order to obtain verifiable results.
  • Training of inspectors: Inspectors from relevant government departments receive appropriate practical training, including mock inspections carried out in existing companies.
  • Quality assurance through internal audits: The management of the NFSA is to conduct independent internal audits to assess the consistency and the efficiency of the official controls. The project will provide advice and support for these audits over several years, including on-the-job training for NFSA staff. These results of this programme will be used into the planned revision of the official control system.
  • Implementation of EU recommendations: The project will assist the NSFA in identifying the necessary steps to achieve the improvements required.
  • Coordination of donor contributions: Support the NFSA in order to plan and harmonize international cooperation contributions.

ADT/GFA are supporting the project in improving food safety (food products of animal origin) by developing  capacity at the National Food Safety Agency.