In the process of Romania's accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR) hosted the first OECD evaluation missions in the fields of agriculture, fishing, and aquaculture as an integral part of Romania's accession process to this organization.

The analysis of accession for these areas – agriculture, fishing, and aquaculture – is part of the assessments conducted by OECD's technical committees, through which the organization will evaluate Romania's readiness to join the OECD.

The purpose of these initial missions is to provide detailed information on subjects of interest to the OECD and to gain an overview of Romania's agricultural and fisheries sectors.

The mission meetings were chaired by:

• Sorin Moise, State Secretary, Coordinator of MADR for Romania's accession to the OECD
• Luca Niculescu, State Secretary, National Coordinator for Romania's Accession to the OECD, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Cristian-Mihael Leonov, State Secretary of MADR, responsible for the fishing and aquaculture domain

From the OECD, Francesco Vanni, the rapporteur for Romania in the field of agriculture, and Urszula Ziebinska from the OECD's Trade and Agriculture Directorate participated. For the field of fishing and aquaculture, Will Symes and Lorena Rivera Orjuela from the same Directorate's Agricultural Policies and Resources Department attended.

Representatives from all relevant authorities in Romania involved in the accession process in agriculture, fishing, and aquaculture participated.

Meetings and panel discussions were organized with representative organizations in agriculture, fishing, and aquaculture, as well as with NGOs, the academic community, and research institutes.

As a result, constructive debates on current topics related to agricultural and agro-environmental policies, rural development, food systems, fishing, aquaculture, research, and innovation took place.

Furthermore, OECD experts were invited to visit a series of successful projects funded by European funds in the agriculture sector, including:

• The Educational Hub for Promoting Local Traditions at the College of Agriculture and Food Industry "Țara Bârsei" in Brașov County
• The Local Action Group Transcarpatica in Bran, Brașov County
• The ADEPT TRANSILVANIA Foundation
• The Research and Development Station for Pomology in Băneasa - "Project for the creation of the autonomous modular robotic platform Robofermier"

For the field of fishing and aquaculture, OECD experts were invited to visit the Research and Development Station for Fish Farming in Nucet, Dâmbovița County, where the discussion panels took place on the second day of the evaluation mission.