APD Policy Brief #3: EU Delivery of Public Goods in the Agriculture Sector
The third Policy Brief in the APD Moldova series focuses on how the European Union ensures the delivery of public goods in agriculture through effective governance systems for plant and animal health, food safety, animal welfare, and environmental protection. Building on the experiences of EU Member States, the publication examines the institutional and operational mechanisms that enable the implementation and enforcement of the EU’s Statutory Management Requirements (SMRs).
The Policy Brief aims to offer a concise, practice-oriented overview of how the SMRs function, both at EU and Member State levels, highlighting six core functions that underpin the system: (i) surveillance and monitoring, (ii) risk assessment, (iii) prevention, (iv) inspection ad official controls, (v) crisis management, and (vi) awareness-raising. It also illustrates how these functions are implemented through different institutional models across EU Member States, including competent authorities, laboratory networks, official control systems, and stakeholder engagement mechanisms.
By drawing on the experience of EU Member States, the Policy Brief outlines key priorities for the Republic of Moldova, including strengthening risk-based surveillance and official control systems, enhancing risk assessment capacities, improving food safety compliance among operators, completing the development of EU-compliant official control systems, increasing preparedness for food safety and animal health crises, and promoting a stronger culture of awareness and compliance across the agri-food sector.
These measures are essential for ensuring the effective implementation of EU requirements, strengthening public health and environmental protection, improving consumer confidence, laying the foundation for farmers’ conditionality of public support under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and thus, supporting Moldova’s successful integration into the European Union.