The 10th meeting of the Republic of Moldova – European Union Association Committee in Trade Configuration took place on 5-6 October 2023, in Chisinau.

The event, from the Republic of Moldova, was attended by representatives of the ministries and authorities responsible for the areas concerned, including the State Agency on Intellectual Property (AGEPI), as the public authority responsible for the implementation in the Republic of Moldova of the provisions of the Association Agreement in intellectual property matters. Also, representatives of the main directorates general of the EU Commission were present at the meeting.

The delegation of the Republic of Moldova was led by the state secretary of the Ministry of Economic Development and Digitalization, Vadim Gumene, and the European Union delegation by the Deputy Head of Unit Europe and the Eastern Neighborhood within the European Commission, Marco Düerkop.

In this session, the main achievements in fulfilling the commitments arising from the association agreement were discussed, in areas such as: foreign trade in goods and services, customs aspects, business climate, public procurement, quality infrastructure, intellectual property, energy sector and competition.

In accordance with the agenda of the meeting, the Deputy Director General of AGEPI, Natalia Mogol presented the report on the most important developments in the field of intellectual property at the legislative and institutional level recorded since the last meeting of the Committee. During the meeting, the results of the 9th meeting of the European Union - Republic of Moldova Geographical Indications Sub-Committee, which took place on September 28, were also reported. Also, the Deputy Director General of AGEPI informed the European partners about the institution’s initiatives for the next period.

The European Commission supported and appreciated the efforts and actions undertaken by the Republic of Moldova in order to strengthen the intellectual property system in the Republic of Moldova, at the same time, new objectives and actions to be carried out in the next year were established for each individual sector.

The meetings of the RM-EU Association Committee in Trade configuration are organized annually and have the role of addressing the most important progress, as well as challenges in the implementation of the DCFTA component within the Association Agreement between the Republic of Moldova and the European Union.