Chisinau hosts first meeting of Moldova-EU Association Committee

Chisinau, 23 October /MOLDPRES/- The first meeting of EU-Moldova Association Committee took place in Chisinau today. The event was aimed at assessing the enforcement of the Association Agreement/Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) during one year, according to a communiqué by the Economics Ministry’s press service.

The agenda included a string of issues related to Moldova’s foreign trade, especially the evolution of trade exchanges with European partners and turning to good accounts of quotas, adjusting national legislation to the EU acquis in terms of right to intellectual property, public acquisitions, services trade, quality infrastructure and market surveillance, energy issues on trade, as well as competition.

The EU side welcomed the achievements recorded in priority sectors, coming from commitments assumed within DCFTA. Among them, there are achievements in terms of technical barriers to commerce, elaboration and approval by the government of a draft law on market surveillance, general  goods' safety, consumers’ rights and a series of draft laws in market surveillance and quality infrastructure.

The meeting was held concomitantly with an international conference, Making the most of DCFTA, organized on 22-23 October 2015 within a project supported by Visegrad Fund,  Sharing Experience of Public-Private Dialogue in EU Integration Process for Moldova and Georgia. 

In the first year of implementation of the Free Trade Agreement, the supply of Moldovan goods reached a 61.9 per cent-share after the first eight months of 2015, against 52 per cent in the same period of 2014.

Deputy Minister Octavian Calmic said that increases in export of agricultural products of over 30 per cent were registered. At the same time, the Moldovan authorities committed to continue reforms in the sanitary sector to fulfill recommendations by the European Commission, in order to get the right to export the animal products, that will influence on increase in export to EU by 16 per cent.

"It is not only about progress in trade, but also about a multidimensional and legislative reform due to be implemented in Moldova," Octavian Calmic said. 

The official pointed out that Moldova had 2,492 standards adjusted to European and international norms. Certainly, “DCFTA implementation will lead to modernizing national economy, enhancing competitiveness and the country’s development, in general”, he said.

“The enforcement of the Free Trade Agreement with EU is a long-lasting process,  which implies an active involvement both by authorities and business environment. EU is willing to help Moldova in this process, but you have to realize that DCFTA cannot substitute the good governance or fight against corruption”, the head of European Commission’s Trade Unit, Luc Devigne, said.

The European official noted that EU was disappointed with theft of billion from baking system. "There are more and more voices in the EU saying why we should help a country that does not want to help itself." The banking crisis, which upset the economic and social situation in Moldova, cannot but negatively influence the trade with EU. We continue being concerned about the fact that those involved in the theft of these means are not punished yet”, he said.

(Reporter V. Bercu, editor L. Alcaza)