Radu Musteață
As Logos Press previously suggested, the issue of coordinating cooperation between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Food Safety Agency (as one of the most important drivers of Moldova’s European integration in the agri-food sector) will take up a significant portion of MAIA’s leadership’s attention. In this context, it is quite telling that even before the very first Cabinet meeting, Radu Musteață announced that in 2027, the ANSA agency (which reports directly to the government) will come under MAIA’s authority. The decision has already been made.
This is a serious and, in a sense, bold step. In the European Union, the bodies responsible for agri-food safety in many countries are comparable in rank to ministries and, in terms of the hierarchy of authority, are quite strictly subordinate to the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE).
Furthermore, many sources—both within MAIA and in diplomatic and business circles—assert that the Ministry of Agriculture will need to focus intensively on strengthening the Agency for Agricultural Interventions and Payments (AIPA). In other words, it is necessary to expedite AIPA’s accreditation within the European system responsible for transactions involving EU financial funds for farmers.
Among other priorities for the Ministry of Agriculture’s new leadership, the new minister outlined, in principle, the usual areas of focus: working to make agriculture resilient to climate change, as well as developing livestock farming, processing, and the “value chain,” and stimulating exports of a wider range of products.
What about the food industry?
Some representatives of food industry producer associations noted that in his initial statements, Radu Musteață mentioned this sector of Moldova’s economy—coordinated by MAIA—only in passing and indirectly. Yet that is precisely where the main growth in the “value chain” lies—especially when it comes to food products or the processing of export-quality agricultural raw materials.
Incidentally, it cannot be said that this circumstance greatly concerns many executives of leading companies in the sector. They are already accustomed to handling matters of modernization, expanding their product range, and entering foreign markets on their own. As a first step, it will be sufficient for the sector’s ministry to achieve success in developing the raw materials sector.
Nevertheless, many processors would appreciate the Ministry of Agriculture’s assistance, for example, in liberalizing imports of raw materials and production supplies (such as packaging materials) that are not produced domestically.
