Moldova presents final report in Geneva on commerce regulatory, procedural barriers

Chisinau, 14 April /MOLDPRES/ – The results of the Report on Regulatory and Procedural Trade Barriers in the Republic of Moldova were presented at the UNECE meeting in Geneva on the occasion of the UNECE Meeting of the Committee on Economic Capacity and Standards of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. The report was realized by UNECE experts and financed by the Government of Switzerland, the office for reintegration policies’ press service has reported.

Deputy Prime Minister Gheorghe Balan represented Moldova at that meeting, who led a delegation consisting of experts from the Ministry of Economy, the National Food Safety Agency, the Customs Service, the Moldovan Standards Institute and the National MOLDAC Accreditation Centre.

Deputy Prime Minister presented the current economic developments in Moldova, in particular, focusing on the situation in the Transnistrian region, expressing the opening of the Chisinau authorities to the left bank of Dniester and the economic agents in the region. There were emphasized the facilities granted by the Moldovan authorities to the economic agents in the region, the simplification of the registration procedures, the obtaining of activity licenses, as well as the opportunity to benefit from a preferential trade regime vis-à-vis the European Union's outlets.

The UNECE experts also made public the results of the Report on Regulatory and Procedural Barriers to Trade in the Republic of Moldova, which provides a series of recommendations for eliminating the constraints in the business environment of Moldova, as well as proposals for facilitating trade Economic agents on both sides of the Dniester.

In the context, Gheorghe Balan said that according to the report, the Republic of Moldova is to develop and implement a series of projects related to transparency (creation of a portal on trade regulations), quality infrastructure (standardization, metrology, conformity assessment, etc.), improving agricultural standards and sanitary and phytosanitary measures, as well as simplifying customs procedures and drawing up a new Customs Code, according to the European Union.

The document also stipulates that the authorities of the Republic of Moldova are to draw up an Action Plan that will integrate both the provisions of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement and the recommendations of the UNECE report in implementing the reforms needed to facilitate the activity of economic agents on both shores Of the Dniester. On the basis of this complex document, the Republic of Moldova will benefit from external technical assistance from development partners.

At the meeting, the Representative of the Republic of Moldova to the UN Office, Ambassador Tudor Ulianovschi, was elected by the 54 member states of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe as Chairman of the Commercial Capacity Committee and UNECE Standards, for the second consecutive year.

On 11 – 12 April, a delegation of the Republic of Moldova headed by Deputy Prime Minister Gheorghe Balan participated in the third session of the Committee on Standards and Capabilities of the Economic Commission for Europe of the United Nations, in Geneva.

Deputy Prime Minister Gheorghe Balan met with officials from the Government of Switzerland, representatives of international organizations, the World Trade Organization, the United Nations, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

The UN Economic Commission for Europe is a intergovernmental organization, consisted of 56 members, with headquarters in Geneva, which assists national governments in integrating domestic economies into the global economy through the involvement of development partners.