The management of sanitary-veterinary and food safety risks at the eastern border of the European Union represents the objective of a trilateral cooperation between Romania, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, according to Romania's the National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority (ANSVSA) release sent to AGERPRES on Tuesday.
The ANSVSA President Alexandru Bociu and Botosani County Council President Valeriu Iftime welcomed on Tuesday Serhii Tkachuk, head of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection (SSUSAPC) and Radu Musteata, director general of the National Food Safety Agency (ANSA) of the Republic of Moldova.
The meeting took place in Botosani in a trilateral Romania-Ukraine-Republic of Moldova format, attended by the SSUSAPC and ANSA delegations, alongside representatives from the IDSA, the IISPV and the nine county DSVSA offices bordering Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, establishing a joint operational framework for managing sanitary-veterinary and food safety risks at the EU's eastern border.
On this occasion, the Cooperation Protocol between the ANSVSA and the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection was signed, establishing a structured framework for collaboration in the areas of animal health, food safety, biosecurity and epidemiological surveillance, in line with the "One Health" approach and international best practices.
Among other provisions, the protocol includes cooperation in monitoring transboundary diseases, rapid information exchange on outbreaks and control measures, harmonisation of border controls for animals and animal products, strengthening diagnostic and biosecurity capacities, as well as the development of joint projects funded by European and international sources.
The document has an initial duration of five years, with automatic renewal, does not create direct legal or financial obligations for the parties and is based on principles of mutual benefit, transparency, reciprocity and observance of national and international legislation, complementing the existing mechanisms at the European Union level.
On the sidelines of the protocol signing, ANSVSA President Alexandru Bociu presented a package of Romania-Ukraine strategic projects, with potential for trilateral expansion and indicative budgets ranging from 150,000 to 800,000 euros per project.
These include: the development of a Romania-Ukraine digital platform for sanitary-veterinary alerts for major transboundary diseases (African swine fever, avian influenza, rabies); the establishment of a joint "Hub Siret" laboratory, with a strategic role in veterinary diagnostics and official food control in the border area; the implementation of a digital traceability system for food products, based on modern labeling and advanced digital solutions; a zoonosis surveillance network in the Danube Delta area, focused on monitoring wildlife and migratory birds.
Moreover, the bilateral projects also target: a joint e-learning platform for the continuous training of veterinarians and inspectors; the joint campaign "Safe Food Border" at border points; the "Green Vet" programme for the sustainable modernisation of laboratories and waste management; a digital innovation hub for food safety and sanitary-veterinary control.
These initiatives have been designed to transform cooperation from a strictly declarative framework into a set of concrete, fundable and monitorable tools, with a direct impact on the operational capacity of the authorities in the three countries.
"Strengthening cooperation with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova is not just a diplomatic exercise, but a direct investment in the sanitary-veterinary security of the entire region and in protecting citizens' health. Through this protocol and the projects we have presented today, we move from reaction to prevention, from documents to concrete working tools. Our next trilateral meeting will also take place on Romania's territory, within a public-private partnership, together with entrepreneurs from the three countries," Alexandru Bociu said, as quoted in the ANSVSA release.
The schedule of the meeting also included visits to a slaughterhouse, a dairy production facility and a processing unit in Botosani county, where the delegations reviewed the implementation of European requirements on food safety, traceability, official controls and biosecurity across the entire "farm-to-fork" chain.
The ANSVSA reaffirmed its commitment to develop, together with partners from Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, a modern regional ecosystem for sanitary-veterinary and food safety, based on science, transparency, and responsibility towards animal health, public health and consumers.
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