29 October 2021 – The law on domestic trade back in the spotlight of the authorities and the business community. Authorities and entrepreneurs are talking about the need to strengthen the capacities of domestic producers to be able to compete in the market. The topic was brought back to the fore on the platform of the Economic Council to the Prime Minister, and the meeting brought together MPs, ministers, domestic producers, representatives of business associations, and the country’s major trade networks.

During the discussions, producers mentioned that although the law obliges them, some trade networks in the country do not always offer them 50% of the store shelves for their products, although the law obliging them to do so.

On the other hand, traders say that some producers are present with their products on 70% or even 100% of the shelf. The problem arises when small and medium-sized producers come in and, although they are entitled to 50% of the shelf, they have nothing to fill it with. This  producers can’t give the supermarkets assurances that once the product is on sale, they will be able to continue supplying the store with their products.

Attending the discussions, Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Viorel Gherciu said that most domestic producers are not yet ready to fill 50% of the shelves with their products in terms of those 3 Cs – quality, quantity and continuity. In this respect, the ministry wants to make efforts to help producers improve the quality of their products so that they can be constantly present on the shelves of the shops.

And Minister of Economy Sergiu Gaibu said that the discussions that will be held within the Economic Council platform with the involvement of all parties should help to collect proposals for alternative solutions to the problems discussed, so that in the end a balanced and workable system to support local producers will be created.

In the same vein, Vladimir Bolea, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture and Food Industry, underlined during the discussions that small Moldovan entrepreneurs, who find it hardest to sell their goods in supermarkets, need to join forces in order to be able to negotiate with traders. The  authorities is working on the concept of promoting local products.

Local producers need to be supported, and for this to happen, real measures need to be thought of to support entrepreneurs in order to increase the quality of their products so that they can face competition, both on the local and international markets. At this stage, it is necessary to hold wide-ranging discussions on this subject, which will lead to the identification of truly effective measures for entrepreneurs, said Dumitru Alaiba, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Economy, Budget and Finance, during the debate.

As a result of the discussions, it was agreed that in the coming weeks the Secretariat of the Economic Council will collect from all participants of the meeting concrete proposals for solutions on the subject, after which they will be examined in close cooperation with the relevant ministries and discussed with the business community.

The Secretariat of the Economic Council to the Prime Minister is supported by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, funded by the UK Government’s Good Governance Fund, and the International Finance Corporation’s Investment Climate Reform Project funded by the Government of Sweden’s International Development Agency.