Particular producers find it more suitable or even simpler to pay a fine of 12,000 to 15,000 lei than to comply with standards as much larger investments were made in production, said Sorin Mereacre, president of East Europe Foundation, which commissioned a lab examination of dairy products, IPN reports.
“The National Food Safety Agency noted once again that a series of lab analyses and inspections were conducted last year and nonconforming products were identified at particular food producers and the Agency surely applied fines in accordance with the legislation. The analyses were repeated in February and these confirmed that particular products are nonconforming,” Sorin Mereacre stated in an interview for Radio Free Europe.
He noted that the conforming products on the market are yet larger in number than the nonconforming ones. “We should work with the producers and products that do not yet meet these standards. So, the consumers should not be so scared. I think they should follow what the NFSA does and see what products are withdrawn from the market,” stated Sorin Mereacre, adding the authorities should work further with producers and consumers and should work more on prevention.
The study commissioned by East Europe Foundation showed many dairy products on the market contain vegetable fats over the norms. The inspections carried out by the NFSA confirmed this and the Agency imposed fines and demanded to withdraw the noncompliant products. The administration of the dairy producer JLC, which was involved in the scandal, said this was a campaign aimed at denigrating it, but didn’t say who staged this.
