Onishenko gives Moldova two weeks
Next two weeks, Moscow may impose a complete ban on the importation of Moldovan wines into the Russian territory, stated Gennady Onishenko, the Head of the RosPotrebNadzor [Russian federal supervisory agency for consumer goods quality] and Russia's Chief Federal Sanitary Inspector.
The Russian mass media quoted him as saying that substances harmful for the human health are found in every second bottle of Moldovan wines, and "if the situation is not corrected next two weeks, Russia will have to introduce prohibitive measures so as to spare Russian customs organs and laboratories the need to continue stating an apparent disgrace".
"As of last June 26, we had rejected nearly one million bottles of Moldovan wines. A conclusion is apparent: the Moldovan wine industry has slid down to the 2006 level in terms of technology observance parameters and produce quality control. This means at least an economic catastrophe for the republic, bearing in mind that the wine industry is its leading economy sector", said Gennady Onishenko.
Moldova's Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Valeriu Cosarciuc keeps on refuting all claims put forward by Gennady Onishenko, and keeps on regarding the RosPotrebNadzor decision as a political one.
Valeriu Cosarciuc stressed once again that Moldovan wine companies observe all the requirements put forth by the Russian side in its two documents, GOST and SanPiN, handed in to the Moldovan side yet in 2007.
The minister said that in the 15 wine quality parameters indicated in the above two documents, there was no mention of such chemical substance as dibutylphthalate, which the Russian side has revealed. Moreover, he said, in Russia there exist no regulations on a maximum permissible content of dibutylphthalate in wines, but only in mineral waters. But even if one applies these norms to wines, the dibutylphthalate contents in wines are considerably lower than the ones usually present in mineral waters.
Minister Cosarciuc said that besides oral statements in the press, no official documents on Moldovan wine quality checks have so far come from Moscow. He reiterated that Moldova has organized a strict state control along the entire wine chain - from grape growing to the production of wines and their exports.
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