Romania Restricts Grain Imports from Moldova: We Protect Farmers

Grain imports from Ukraine and Moldova will be allowed to Romanian farmers and processors and will only be possible on the basis of a license. “The import of grain from Ukraine and Moldova will be allowed only to Romanian farmers and processors and will be possible only on the basis of a license. As we promised, we are protecting Romanian production and the labor of Romanian farmers,” Agriculture Minister Florin Barbu wrote, as quoted by digi24.ro. Romania’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has published a draft emergency decree establishing a legal framework for importing agricultural products from Ukraine or Moldova. More precisely, it introduces a mechanism allowing Romanian economic operators to authorize the import of four products: wheat, corn, sunflower seeds and rapeseed. The draft regulation stipulates that only Romanian economic agents operating in the following economic sectors can be authorized to carry out import of agricultural products from Ukraine or Moldova: production of oils and fats, production of flour-milling goods, production of dregs for feeding farm animals, animal husbandry. The following agricultural products can be imported: wheat, corn, rape or wild rape, crushed or uncrushed, and sunflower seeds, crushed or uncrushed. Thus, according to the normative act, an economic operator with an office and point/s of operation on the territory of Romania, who intends to import agricultural products from Ukraine or the Republic of Moldova, must apply to the Ministry of Agriculture for the issuance of an import authorization, based on the submission of a document confirming the need for restocking, as well as other necessary documents mentioned in the project. The Ministry, based on the report of the Authorization Commission, issues the import permit after the Romanian authorities have verified the information provided by the operators requesting authorization.