Radio România Internațional

Tag: Agriculture Committee

  • Illegal logging and the protection of forests

    Illegal logging and the protection of forests

    In the National Afforestation Program, adopted 7 years ago, Romania stipulated the increase of forest surfaces between 2010-2035 by 442,000 hectares. This is a mission which analysts sarcastically label as impossible.



    Because, according to statistics, forest areas can be extended only by 6,379 hectares per year, given the current pace of afforestation, be it artificial or natural, on the one hand, and the pace of logging, on the other. That means Romania would need 60 years to implement the national afforestation program scheduled for only 25 years.



    According to the National Institute of Statistics, the forested area has been extended, though, and this growth is mainly due to redeveloping forested pastures and to introducing degraded and non-forested lands into the forestry stock as established by the Forest Code.



    However, in 2015, a Greenpeace Romania report showed that, in reality, 3 hectares of forest are lost every hour because of illegal logging. Recently, the Romanian ecologists have revealed that the main wood processor on the Romanian market, the Austrian company Holzindustrie Schweighofer, offered bonuses for the wood illegally cut from Romania’s forests, and this stringent issue has eventually reached Romania’s Parliament and Government.



    The civil sanctions for illegal logging and illegal wood transport will be maintained at the level provided for in the government order issued by the former technocratic government, which actually toughened these sanctions. The MPs in the agriculture committee have agreed to also maintain the measure providing for the confiscation of the vehicles transporting the wood cut illegally.



    They will however reanalyze the sanctions for the employees in the forestry field who don’t notify the authorities on the wood theft or are accessories to it. Secretary of state with the Environment Ministry, Şteţco Istrate, admits that the measures are necessary to discourage illegalities.



    Şteţco Istrate: “The employees in the forestry sector could avoid receiving criminal sanctions, they might receive only civil sanctions. We want to strike a balance between the employees’ salaries and the sanctions to be imposed on them in case of illegalities. We do not want sanctions to be eliminated. As regards illegal logging, we will not relax any sanctions. On the contrary, we’ll introduce further sanctions regarding timber traceability.”



    The debate on the law, article by article, will start next week, and the Agriculture Committee is to draft a report that will be submitted to the plenum of the Chamber of Deputies, which is a decision-maker. Meanwhile, the barbaric illegal logging in Romania’s mountains continues, newspapers write.


  • The 51% Law

    The 51% Law

    According to a law recently promulgated by Romanias President Klaus Iohannis, at least 51% of the foodstuffs sold by hypermarkets in Romania will have to be produced by local producers.



    The law, which is to come into force these days, stipulates that the big retail chains in Romania must have on their shelves foodstuffs from the so-called ‘short supply channel, that is from a local or regional source. According to the new law, retailers must sell meat, eggs, dairy products, fruit, vegetables and honey from the domestic production.



    Exceptions are exotic fruit and vegetables, as well as seasonal produce. The Minister of Agriculture Dan Irimescu has stated that the new law mainly targets the fruit and vegetable sector, where Romania is faced with massive imports. The Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies Agriculture Committee Nini Sapunaru believes that the law is a barrier in the way of those who add huge markups to their products.



    Nini Sapunaru: “There are chains that have already held meetings with farmers and have announced they want to purchase Romanian produce, that they would like to start concluding contracts with them, therefore things are changing.



    The enforcement of the law has been postponed several times, especially because of the reluctance of employers associations, who have opposed many of its provisions. The MPs in the Agriculture Committee have explained that the law makes no strict reference to Romanian products, and therefore it does not run counter to the single market principles.



    Employers however are worried and say that these provisions, which, they say, break the EU legislation, will affect the activity of modern retailers in Romania. Retailers also say that this will by no means solve the issues facing the Romanian producers of foodstuffs, it will only severely affect the food trade balance.



    The law regarding the selling of foodstuffs limits consumers freedom to chose the best products at competitive prices, reads a communiqué issued by the Big Retailers Association in Romania. The members of this association believe that the law was drafted against the big retailers and, despite public declarations, it guarantees no support for the local producers or Romanian products.



    In fact, the Association believes that the law limits consumers freedom of choice. From now on, the main objective of any retailer will no longer be to satisfy their customers, but to observe the very restrictive terms imposed by the law with regard to payments or commercial services, because otherwise the sanctions for failure to observe them can go as far as closing the stores, the association has also stated.