Radio România Internațional

Tag: food industry

  • October 31, 2023

    October 31, 2023

    VOTE The Chamber of
    Deputies in Bucharest is today voting on the simple motion tabled by the
    opposition against Finance Minister Marcel Bolos. The opposition USR has been criticizing
    the fiscal measures endorsed by the government of late and has accused Minister
    Bolos of having promoted legislative initiatives at the expenses of the Romanian
    employees. In response Minister Bolos says the decisions made by the PSD-PNL
    coalition government are needed against an accentuated budget imbalance with a
    deficit of over 11 billion euros and a public debt reaching 160 billion euros.






    COMMISSIONER
    Romanian president Klaus Iohannis on Monday held talks with the European
    Commission Vice-president for Values and Transparency, Vera Jourova. According
    to a Facebook post of the presidential administration, high on the agenda were Romania’s
    accession to Schengen, the rule of law and reforms in the country’s legal system,
    as well as the support for Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East.
    Commissioner Jourova has also met Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu and other
    ministers for talks over the digitization programmes part of the National Plan
    of Recovery and Resilience, AI and fighting misinformation.






    SALARIES In a special session today, the government in Bucharest has
    endorsed the minimum salaries in the fields of construction, agriculture and
    food industry. As of November 1, the minimum gross salary in the field of
    construction will see a rise of 14.6%, reaching the equivalent of 9 hundred
    euros. The rise will be of 14.53% up to 7 hundred Euros, in the country’s food
    and farm industries. According to official data, 590 thousand employees from
    agriculture and the food industry have been paid the minimum salary. And the
    latest government move is meant to allow the aforementioned categories of employees
    to remain unaffected by the elimination of the exemption from paying the health
    insurance, which is to come into effect as of November 1. We recall that, a new
    series of fiscal-budgetary amendments are to come into effect in Romania, on
    November 1.


    PLANES A first batch of the
    F-16 fighters the Netherlands donates to Ukraine will arrive at the training
    center set up in Romania in a fortnight – the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte
    has announced. In a videoconference with Ukrainian president Volodymyr
    Zelensky, the Dutch official said the present situation in the Middle East must
    not and cannot distract the Netherlands from Ukraine’s fight against the
    Russian aggression. Reuters recalls that Denmark, Norway and Belgium have pledged
    F-16 jet fighters to Ukraine. Romania, the Netherlands and the US giant
    Lockheed Martin on August 29 signed a letter of intention for setting up a center
    for the training of the F-16 personnel. The aforementioned facility has been
    designed as a regional center for NATO countries at the air base in Fetesti,
    southern Romania, which will also benefit the Ukrainian pilots.

    ISRAEL
    Clashes continued in the Gaza Strip last night where explosions and machine gun
    fire was heard. Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes in the past days
    and its tanks have entered deep into the Palestinian territory, where for a
    short period of time they interrupted an evacuation route to the south.
    According to international publications, 600 thousand people could still be in
    the northern part of the Strip, and the UNO believes that most of them have
    taken refuge in the 10 hospitals in the area, which have received evacuation
    orders. According to Phillipe Lazzarini, the head of the UN Palestinian refugee
    Agency, the Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip were being subjected to
    forced displacement and collective punishment. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
    Netanyahu has rejected the humanitarian agencies’ appeals for a ceasefire,
    arguing this would be tantamount to capitulation to Hamas and terrorism. During
    a military operation in Gaza, a young IDF woman held captive by Hamas has been
    liberated in what Prime Minister Netanyahu has described an emotional success adding
    that all efforts must be made to free all the hostages taken by Hamas.

    (bill)

  • Food quality in the limelight in Europe

    Food quality in the limelight in Europe

    A product, including packaged food, bought in the west is of better quality than a product by the same brand sold in Romania. Romanians travelling abroad who have bought products from the west have been able to see this for themselves. In fact, there has been talk for a long time among customers of shops in the west, most of them occasional, about the different quality of products depending on the country where they are sold.



    At the weekend, this issue was given wide coverage in Romania, with the authorities saying they will begin checks, given that the accusation has circulated in other central European countries as well. The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia also complain that the food products sold in their shops are of poorer quality than those in the west and accuse food makers of using cheaper ingredients in products for the European Unions poorer members.



    The checks are welcome, says the president of the Romalimenta Employers Federation in the Food Industry, Sorin Minea, who recalls, however, that there is a lot of focus in Romania on “the cheapest price, something that cannot ensure best quality. He also says that at the moment it is impossible to establish common standards at European level.



    Sorin Minea: “Its hard to say if special products are made for the countries in the East. Producers sell what they are asked to. If a retail chain asks for a product that complies with certain parameters and a certain price, the producer will provide it. Starting from the premise that the countries in the East are poorer, those responsible for marketing in the countries in the East provide cheaper products. Cheaper translates into poorer quality. As for whether some products are sweeter in the West or in the East or whether they may or may not contain sugar, thats information that can be found on the packaging. As long as producers list the ingredients and the content on the packaging, I dont understand what they are accused of.



    However, not all international products sold in Romania are cheaper than in Western Europe. In fact, prices in the national currency, the leu, are the exact equivalent of the prices in euros or dollars, down to the last cent.



    So, until authorities finalise their verifications to see exactly what the situation is, the president of the Consumer Protection Association Sorin Mierlea told consumers what they can do to benefit from better quality products: “Romanian consumers must take an attitude and report everything. This will help us establish casuistry and to pressure the authorities to do their job, to have a survey, to be in the same context as the other members of the European Union.



    At this point, food makers say the difference in the content of the products is given by … local tastes.