EU Regulations To Control Fruits and Veggies Quality On Romanian Market

Romania's Ministry of Agriculture changed the regulations regarding the retail sell of fresh vegetables and fruits, according to a ministry order published in the Friday issue of the Official Journal, which bring the domestic regulations in line with the European Union ones

Romania's Ministry of Agriculture changed the regulations regarding the retail sell of fresh vegetables and fruits, according to a ministry order published in the Friday issue of the Official Journal, which bring the domestic regulations in line with the European Union ones.
“Former regulations did not fully control the access of fruits and vegetables on the market, hence produce of lesser quality entered it. But the new ministry order fixes this problem,” said deputy minister Gheorghe Albu.

“Agriculture Ministry representatives will monitor that the quality of fruits and veggies on the market stays in line with the EU standards,” added the president of the owners association of fruit and veggies processors Aurel Tanase.
A national database will be set up for the monitoring purpose; however, the small scale retailers who sell the fruits and vegetables locally, close to the region they were grown in, are not required to enter the database.

The national database to be set up and managed by the State Inspection should enable authorities track fruits and vegetables from their producer to their consumer.
Fruits and veggies sold domestically will be randomly checked, while those exported outside Romania will be fully checked for their conformity with the EU standards.

According to the recent ministry order, it is mandatory for retailers to provide on the packaging of fruits and vegetables information regarding the produce, the country of origin, quality, species or kind of fruit or veggies. The quality standards say the fruits and veggies should be whole, healthy, with no disease, and strange smell or taste, not tainted by excessive humidity.