,The Republic of Moldova has issued a new Regulation establishing general and specific conditions for the production, circulation, traceability, quality, and safety of fermented non-distilled alcoholic beverages other than beer and wine. The regulation covers four product categories — cider, fruit wine, alcoholic fruit drinks, and fruit cocktails — and applies to all products placed on the Moldovan market regardless of whether they are produced domestically or imported from other countries. All covered products fall under tariff heading 2206 of the Combined Nomenclature of Goods approved by Law No. 172/2014. The regulation provides precise definitions for each covered product category. An alcoholic fruit drink is defined as an alcoholic product with a strength of at least 4.5% vol., obtained from one or more types of fruit and/or fruit wine, to which juice, non-alcoholic beverages, conditioned water, flavors, sweeteners, and food additives may be added, without the addition of rectified ethyl alcohol or distillates. A fruit cocktail is similarly defined but with a lower minimum alcoholic strength of at least 1.2% vol. Cider is defined as an alcoholic product with an acquired alcoholic strength of at least 1.2% vol., obtained by partial or total fermentation of apple juice, pear juice, or a mixture of both, with or without added sugar, syrups, or conditioned water. Fruit wine is defined as an alcoholic product with a strength of at least 1.2% vol., obtained exclusively by total or partial fermentation of fresh or crushed fruit, fresh fruit must, or juice, with or without the addition of sweeteners, rectified ethyl alcohol, distillates of agricultural origin, or food additives. The regulation also defines fresh fruit must, concentrated fruit must, reconstituted fruit must, and alcoholic fruit must as distinct intermediate and finished products within the production chain. Fruits form the foundational raw material for all products covered by the regulation, encompassing all varieties of fresh fruits, berries, and berries of both cultivated and spontaneous flora, harvested during the optimal ripening period with sufficient phenolic substance content. Additional permitted ingredients across product categories include food additives and colorants used to improve sensory characteristics in accordance with Moldova's Sanitary Regulation on food additives, various sweeteners including sugar, dextrose, fructose, glucose syrup, honey, and concentrated or reconstituted fruit juices, flavorings and ingredients with flavoring properties excluding grape flavorings, drinking water that may be distilled, demineralized, treated, or softened, and rectified ethyl alcohol and distillates of agricultural origin that comply with Moldova's Regulation on alcoholic beverages. For cider specifically, the regulation requires that apples or pears or a combination of both must constitute at least 60% of the total fruit used. The addition of rectified or distilled ethyl alcohol, any other alcohol-containing beverage, or substances that impart color or odor is expressly prohibited in cider production. Cider is classified as either natural — produced without added sweeteners, conditioned water, flavors, or food additives — or dealcoholized, which is obtained by reducing ethyl alcohol concentration to no more than 0.5% vol. Natural cider may be further classified as sparkling, where carbon dioxide originates exclusively from secondary fermentation, or foamy, where carbon dioxide originates in whole or in part from an external addition of gas. The physicochemical standards for cider require that natural cider have an alcoholic strength between 1.2% and 8.5% vol., while dealcoholized cider must not exceed 0.5% vol. Sugar concentration ranges from no more than 10 g/dm³ for dry cider up to no more than 80 g/dm³ for sweet cider. Titratable acid concentration expressed as malic acid must be at least 3.0 g/dm³, volatile acids expressed as acetic acid must not exceed 1.3 g/dm³, total sulfur dioxide must not exceed 200.0 mg/dm³, potassium sorbate expressed as sorbic acid must not exceed 200.0 mg/dm³, and the non-reducing dry extract must be at least 5.0 g/dm³. Carbon dioxide pressure in closed containers at 20°C must be at least 3.0 bar for sparkling varieties. Permitted deviations are ±0.5% vol. for ethyl alcohol concentration and ±5 g/dm³ for sugar concentration. For fruit wine, the regulation permits production from fruits and/or fruit purée, wild flora fruits, fruit juices and musts including concentrated and alcoholic varieties, as well as sweeteners and rectified ethyl alcohol or distillates of agricultural origin. Fruit wine may be produced from one or more fruit varieties and may be labelled as a single-variety product if it contains at least 80% of the respective fruit — or at least 60% in the case of chokeberry and mountain ash wines — while retaining the organoleptic properties of its main ingredient. The product types include natural fruit wine, aged fruit wine matured in oak barrels for at least one year, low-alcohol fruit wine, dealcoholized fruit wine with no more than 0.5% vol., and alcoholic fruit wine. For natural, aged, and low-alcohol fruit wines, the ethyl alcohol present must be formed exclusively through fermentation, with no addition of ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, no dyes, and no flavorings, though sweeteners may be added. The physicochemical requirements for fruit wine vary by sub-category. Natural and aged fruit wines must have an alcoholic strength between 6.0% and 15% vol., while natural wines from dried or dehydrated fruits must fall between 9% and 15% vol. Low-alcohol natural fruit wines must range from 1.2% to 6.0% vol., dealcoholized fruit wine must not exceed 0.5% vol., and alcoholic fruit wine must fall between 15% and 22% vol. Sugar concentration standards are defined across dry, semi-dry, semi-sweet, and sweet subcategories for each wine type — ranging from no more than 10 g/dm³ for dry natural wine up to at least 51 g/dm³ for sweet natural wine, and up to 130 g/dm³ for sweet dealcoholized fruit wine. Titratable acid expressed as malic acid must be at least 3.0 g/dm³, volatile acids expressed as acetic acid must not exceed 1.3 g/dm³ for most wines and 1.4 g/dm³ for natural sweet wine, total sulfur dioxide must not exceed 200.0 mg/dm³, methanol in fortified wines must not exceed 1.0 g/dm³, higher alcohols in fortified wines must not exceed 600.0 mg/dm³, and the non-reducing dry extract must be at least 6.0 g/dm³. Permitted deviations are ±1% vol. for ethyl alcohol concentration and ±5 g/dm³ for sugar concentration in most wine types. The regulation represents a significant modernization of Moldova's regulatory framework for fermented non-distilled alcoholic beverages, consolidating product definitions, ingredient permissions, physicochemical requirements, and production restrictions into a single comprehensive instrument aligned with European standards and Moldova's existing food safety and alcoholic beverage legislation.
Noticias para el consumidor: Región