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Belarus bans Moldovan wines re-export to Russia

The Minsk authorities have adopted a decision prohibiting the re-export of Moldovan wines via Belarus to the Russian market.

At the same time, the control over the circulation of the Moldovan alcoholic beverages was enhanced, including at the border with Russia.

The legal entities selling the Moldovan alcoholic beverages in Belarus will be obliged to put down in the accompanying documents that the delivery of these goods to the Russian market is forbidden.

Also, samples of Moldovan wines will be collected in order to confirm their conformity with the standards in force in Belarus and the Customs Union.

Belarus is the second largest market of Moldovan alcoholic beverages, according to its size, after Russia, with a quota of 21.9 per cent of the overall Moldovan wines exports in 2012, according to data by the National Statistics Bureau. The exports of wines and other alcoholic beverages to the Belarusian market went up to 46.04 million dollars in 2012.

Another member country of the Customs Union, Kazakhstan, had a share of 9.3 per cent of the Moldovan alcoholic beverages exports.

Some experts do not exclude that after Russia had banned the imports, the Customs Union’s countries would act in a concerted way.

The exports of Moldovan wine to the Russian market were fully stopped, according to a 10 September decision by the head of the Rospotrebnadzor Russian sanitary service, Gennady Onishchenko. “I took the decision on suspending the Moldovan wine’s import in Russia”, he said. Onishchenko added that the prohibition would be in force unless Russia makes sure that “Moldova undertakes actions for the systemic settlement of the problem” of goods quality.

Adapted from Moldpres