Food Safety at the European Level: How is Moldova Progressing

After signing the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA), Moldova undertook the task of aligning its national food safety legislation with the relevant laws and regulations of the EU.

To reduce technical barriers to trade and enhance access to the EU market, Moldova must achieve a higher level of compliance with EU technical requirements, such as standards, technical regulations, and directives related to products, and must improve its conformity assessment controls.

In its country report published in November 2025, the European Commission notes that the Republic of Moldova is at a “moderate level of preparedness” in the areas of food safety, animal health, and residue monitoring. Progress is visible: competent authorities are strengthening their capacities, inspectors are being systematically trained, and control systems are gradually becoming comparable to those in EU member states.

To this end, the European Union, in partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), together with the National Food Safety Agency (ANSA), national reference laboratories, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry (MAIA), and sectoral and business associations, implemented a project to gradually align the Republic of Moldova with EU food standards.

The overall objective of this initiative was to enhance consumer safety at the national level, ensure access to safe, healthy, and nutritious food, improve trade opportunities, and create a favorable business environment for small and medium-sized enterprises, thereby contributing to resilient, sustainable, and inclusive economic development within the European economic space.

The project report, published in November 2025, highlighted the following concrete results:

• With EU support, significant changes have been achieved—from aligning legislation with the EU acquis to drafting regulatory acts, conducting training sessions, and modernizing farms. Procedures, concepts, and national monitoring plans have been reviewed.
• 85 inspectors from the National Food Safety Agency (ANSA) were trained to conduct official controls in line with EU standards, including simulation exercises in “real-life settings” such as fish processing plants.
• Over €200,000 was invested in equipment for the National Centre for Animal Health, Plant Protection, and Food Safety to strengthen laboratory testing, detect hazardous substances in food and feed, and ensure biosecurity.
• More than 30 laboratory experts were trained in bacteriology, microbiology, and feed quality control.
• 7 new testing methods were accredited in state reference laboratories.
• External technical experts from EU member states worked alongside the staff of the Agency for Interventions and Payments in Agriculture (AIPA) to assess investment proposals (22) in livestock development, leading to the authorization of $5 million in non-reimbursable funding.
• 18 SMEs received support to prepare for ISO audits, implement sustainability practices, and meet hygiene standards.

The Republic of Moldova is taking concrete steps toward European integration, including improving the way food reaching consumers’ tables is verified.

The new measures implemented will help apply reforms in practice and focus on how activities in slaughterhouses, meat and fish production, dairy product verification, and mollusk inspection (such as clams, mussels, oysters, and snails) are controlled, as well as the use of pharmaceutical substances in livestock. These measures will also increase transparency, hold staff accountable, and enhance consumer safety.

One initiative regulates detailed checks in slaughterhouses and meat and fish processing units, including staff training and special rules for wild game and mollusks. A second legislative project sets out the conditions for inspections of animal products (fresh meat, milk, fish, colostrum), with clear rules on the frequency of controls, correct labeling, and auditing of production areas. A third Government Decision draft concerns the control of pharmaceutical substances used in animals that produce food.

To support the work of the National Food Safety Agency (ANSA) and ensure the clearest possible application of European standards, UNIDO experts contributed to the development of four technical regulation projects.

These aim to improve the control of veterinary medicines and feed additives by introducing detailed rules for inspections, testing, and sampling, both for products from the Republic of Moldova and for imports. Additionally, the new regulations establish how national control plans should be structured, clearly indicating when and where samples should be taken, which products must be checked, and how risks should be assessed. They also provide for a special mechanism whereby certain laboratories can be officially recognized even if they do not meet all technical requirements for every method applied—a necessary solution in complex areas such as plant control, food additives, or materials that come into contact with food. These will provide ANSA with the tools needed to carry out more rigorous and effective controls, for the benefit of food safety for all.

For more details on European food safety standards, visit the website