Of course, everyone wants more food produced in Romania to be sold, but this should happen as a result of free market relations, depending on the price and quality of these products.

That is, for anyone who thinks rationally. However, recently, Minister Florin Barbu has come up with a new absurdity: Quality Certificates issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR) based on new Quality Schemes.

After failing miserably—and deservedly so—in his attempt to impose price caps on all food products on store shelves in Romania, Minister Barbu could not give up and has now come up with a new nonsense.

As a result, he recently announced that MADR will issue these Quality Certificates for all those who invest in processing raw materials from Romanian agriculture and livestock. The minister states that this will be done after the modification of the European Union's Directive 633 on unfair trading practices.

Moreover, the MADR official announced that special stands will be organized inside stores, displaying only these certified products, and stores will be obliged to comply. That is possible. Just as there are shelves for vegan products, these can exist as well.

However, the Minister of Agriculture claims that administrative intervention in the market will be carried out according to the legislation in force. Yet, he immediately implies that even if the EU opposes it, he will still go through with it.

Taking the absurdity even further, Barbu announced that if a product is not approved by MADR according to the new Certificates, it will be banned from being sold throughout Romania!!!

We cannot say for sure whose "brilliant" idea suggested this to Minister Barbu or whether this project emerged from his own well of thought, but we do know that there are plenty of characters—some of the most dubious—who support his proposal.

In the meantime, we ask a few questions, expressing some concerns:

1. Does Florin Barbu really believe that Directive 633 will be modified according to his wishes or as schemed in the offices of certain professional organizations?
2. On what criteria will the new Quality Certificates be granted? Who will select the products?
3. Who will set the new quality standards announced by MADR?
4. How will Minister Florin Barbu manage to force grocery stores to sell only food products with the new Quality Certificates when it is forbidden to interfere with a company's business plan?
5. How will Quality Certificates be issued for oranges, bananas, chocolate, tea, or coffee, for example?
6. Will European Quality Certificates still be recognized, or will they be rendered meaningless? If a product has only IGP certification, will Sibiu Salami or Ibănești Telemea cheese be banned from sale in Romania if they lack Barbu's new Certificate?
7. According to Florin Barbu, the new store stands will be created "at the level of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development." Leaving aside the grammatically incorrect phrasing, does this mean that MADR will transform into an LLC, a joint-stock company, or a state enterprise, as it attempted with "Unirea"?
8. What will happen to foods certified as traditional products?
9. What will happen to products certified as Recognized Recipes?
10. What will happen to intra-community food products certified as IGP, DOC, etc.?
11. Considering the intention to prohibit sales in Romania, if a processor sells their products only in their own stores and does not have Minister Florin Barbu’s Certificate, will they still be able to sell their goods in their own stores, given that these are on Romanian territory? Or will they be banned?
12. Did he seek Călin Georgescu's approval for this proposal?
13. Are there many more like Florin Barbu working in that MADR?

And many, many more.