Three officials responsible for food safety were documented by the NAC officers and anti-corruption prosecutors, within several criminal cases, launched for passive corruption and active corruption. They are suspected of issuing phytosanitary certificates necessary for the export of goods to the European Union, Ukraine and the Russian Federation, in exchange for a bribe.

According to the complaint, during 2017-2021, the employees of the Territorial Directorate for Food Safety in Chisinau of the National Agency for Food Safety (NAFS) allegedly received systematically amounts of money as a bribe from economic agents to speed up the issuance of phytosanitary certificates and other permissive acts, without detailed control of exported goods. The officials allegedly issued, with deviations, certificates for different categories of goods, such as fruits, vegetables, cereals, wood packaging, etc.

In one of the cases documented by the NAC, several economic agents that specialized in producing pallets and wood packaging would have offered undue financial means to the NAFS inspectors, so that they could issue phytosanitary certificates necessary for the export without checking if pallets had been heat-processed, one of the conditions for the goods to be exported abroad. Within the special investigative measures, it was identified that acts were issued to traders without processing of wood, however, for every batch of exported pallets, they allegedly transmitted to the officials a percent from the cost of goods.

Following the operated searches this morning, three employees of the Territorial Directorate for Food Safety in Chisinau were detained for 72 hours, and currently they are being heard by the prosecutors and officers of the National Anticorruption Center. Criminal investigative actions were carried out at domiciles and cars of the suspects, and one-stop shop of issuing permissive acts within the Directorate.

The anti-corruption prosecutors are conducting the criminal investigation, that acre carried out within nine files, initiated for passive corruption and active corruption. We note, that the legislation provides up to 10 years in prison for these deeds, a criminal fine and deprivation of the right to hold office.

We remind that every person is presumed to be innocent until the final and irrevocable decision of the court is pronounced.