On September 12, 2024, the Moldovan Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry issued Consultation document No. 600/MAIA/2024 on the proposed revision of the Technical Regulations on Coffee, Tea, Chicory Extracts and their Derivatives (i.e., Governmental Decision No. 206/2009), with a feedback period until September 29, 2024, for comments. The main revisions are:

(1) Revise the definitions of products such as coffee, liquid coffee, instant coffee and green tea;

(2) Providing that manufacturers of products shall keep traceability records containing the following: information on the name of raw materials, product batches, and documents proving compliance with quality requirements; manufacturers shall verify the organoleptic characteristics, external form, labeling, and net content of each batch; and indicators of product safety and hygiene, as well as laboratory sampling, shall be carried out in accordance with the established autonomous control plan;

(3) Require that the label of decaffeinated coffee products must contain the word “decaffeinated”, where the caffeine content does not exceed 0.3% of the coffee content in dry matter; in the case of new food products containing more than 150 mg/l of caffeine (as it is or as it has been brewed), the following must be stated on the label: “High caffeine content, not recommended for children or pregnant or lactating women”, with the warning placed parallel to the name of the food, followed by the caffeine content expressed in mg/100ml, etc.