Еуджениу Осмокеску
The law is in place – will there be amendments?
This was recently announced by the head of MAIA, Eugen Osmochescu, during one of his regular television appearances. According to the minister, the review of the ‘organisational structure of the agricultural chambers’ is directly linked to the reform of second-tier local public administration, which was announced on 1 October by Prime Minister Vasile Tofan and Secretary-General of the Government Alexei Buza.
Under the proposed plan for administrative and territorial reform, the Republic of Moldova’s current 32 districts will be reorganised into three (geographical) blocks. Consequently, the agricultural chambers will be restructured to fit the ‘framework and needs’ of these future large regions.
As Logos Press previously reported, the Law on the Organisation and Functioning of Agricultural Chambers (No. 39 of 06.03.25), adopted in March 2025, provided for the creation of one national and ten regional agricultural chambers.
Nowhere in the text of the law, of course, were there any direct references to the forthcoming administrative-territorial reform. However, few people at the time doubted that the ‘figure 10’—referring to the number of second-tier (regional) chambers—had not appeared by chance.
Now, it seems, members of the Cabinet are no longer shy about, in a sense, ‘putting the cart before the horse’. On the other hand, the law is already in place – which means it will not take too long or be too costly to make the necessary amendments to it.
Under the current law, agricultural chambers are non-governmental organisations with a mixed funding model (comprising membership fees and subsidies), as well as a fairly broad range of objectives and powers.
At the start of this year, the former Minister of Agriculture, Ludmila Catlabuga, announced the creation of three to five chambers by the end of 2026. However, the opposition to the idea of agricultural chambers – which began whilst the bill was still being drafted – continued even after the legislation had acquired full legal status.
For instance, Logos Press reported that Serghei Ivanov and Alexandru Belinschi, MPs from ‘Our Party’, had appealed to the Constitutional Court to review the constitutionality of the aforementioned law. In their view, the law provides for the compulsory membership of agricultural producers in agricultural chambers without their consent, and also imposes financial and administrative obligations on them. However, the court deemed this appeal ‘inadmissible for consideration on the merits’.
Even before the court’s verdict was handed down, however, the administrative council of CAPA – an organisation bringing together some fifteen agri-food associations in Moldova – publicly condemned the continued process of establishing agricultural chambers, as also reported by Logos Press.
CAPA members interviewed by the publication’s correspondent, as well as the heads of some of the (largest) Moldovan agri-food business associations not belonging to this federation, noted that their generally negative attitude towards the idea of participating in the formation of agricultural chambers has not changed since the beginning of this year.
What stage is the process of establishing agricultural chambers currently at?
Eugen Osmochescu noted that there are currently only two initiatives to establish agricultural chambers, both in the south of the country. No agricultural chamber has yet been established, “but work is already under way”, the minister assured.
He emphasised that the new bodies must be established solely on the basis of a voluntary initiative by the farmers themselves. In this regard, the country’s authorities “plan to improve dialogue with farmers and explain the benefits of participating in this process to them in a more accessible way”. However, at present, the idea is at the stage of internal analysis by MAIA.
All in the name of European integration
The country’s authorities have consistently cited – both in the past and now – the sustainable development of the Moldovan countryside and the adaptation of the agri-food sector to strict European standards as the main motivations for establishing agricultural chambers. There is also a recurring theme that, without agricultural chambers working ‘hand in hand’ with state bodies, it will be difficult for Moldova to effectively attract and utilise financial assistance from the European Union.
Meanwhile, within the European Union itself, out of the 27 full member states, only seven have established agricultural chambers to date. Moreover, their status varies even within a single country, particularly in Germany. In Romania, the idea of agricultural chambers as a systemic framework has not taken root. Romanian farmers fear the politicisation of these bodies. Moldovan farmers, incidentally, share this concern. Apparently, it’s in their DNA.
This story was translated with the assistance of artificial intelligence.The translation was also reviewed by the Logos Press editorial team.
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