Over 600 tonnes of Moldovan plums get to markets of Germany

Chisinau, 30 October /MOLDPRES/ – The companies of Association Moldova Fruct (AMF) have delivered over 600 tonnes of plums to Germany, this season. Moldovan plums reached German consumers throughout a German marketing cooperative.

The commercial relations between Moldovan producers and German importers were established with the help of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), within the framework of project: Performance Agriculture in Moldova (APM).

"At initiative of APM project, a representative of the German cooperative came to Moldova and visited some members of Moldova Fruct. I saw the products, conditions of storage, packaging and assortment. Later, the members of Association came on a study visit to Germany. Following the established relations, our cooperative imported from the members of AMF 6.0 tonnes of cherries, 2.5 tonnes of apricots and over 600 tonnes of plums," said representative of German cooperative, Halder Kurt.

The Germans have appreciated the quality of fruits from Moldova and claim that they "would like to expand the import of fruits from Moldova".

At their turn, the members of AMF who exported to the EU market this year have mentioned that it should be taken more actions by authorities to facilitate the export of native fruits to EU.

“As a priority, it is necessary to negotiate the increase of tariff quotas for Moldovan plums exported to EU, which, according to the Free Trade Agreement of Moldova and EU, is currently 10,000 tonnes. Or, the customs duties for a plum truck exported to EU outside quotas reach up to €2.800”, state sources of AMF.

Moldova produces over 90,000 tonnes of plum yearly. In 2018, more than 15,000 tonnes of plum got on the EU market, and 19,000 tonnes of plum have been exported in 2019.