Complaints of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance of Russia (Rosselkhoznadzor) about the quality of Belarusian products are not always justified, BelTA learned from Vasily Pivovar, Belarusian Deputy Agriculture and Food Minister, Director of the Veterinary and Food Oversight Department, on 19 June. Mass media reports about the Russian side finding some discrepancy in relation to Belarusian products, primarily meat and dairy ones, have become rather frequent recently. Vasily Pivovar underlined: “Nothing extraordinary has happened to the quality of our merchandise contrary to what members of the general public may think after reading such reports. The quality of merchandise has always been monitored both in the Russian Federation and in Belarus. It is an everyday occurrence.” The only difference is that after introducing the food import embargo in response to the European Union's sanctions Russia now pays closer attention to Belarusian products. The most frequent kind of complaints is complaints regarding the detection of residual quantities of some harmful substances such as tetracycline group medications and various kinds of bacterial content. “Such defects can be caused by improperly washed equipment or poor disinfection. However, they can be fixed easily,” said the Belarusian Deputy Agriculture and Food Minister. He noted that such violations are found not only in Belarus but in Russia, too. “All the irregularities account for about 1.5-2% of the total volume of merchandise we supply. It is a normal internationally recognized percentage of irregularities,” stressed the official. When poor-quality products are detected, a well-polished routine kicks in. “There is a digital notification system Sirano. Virtually several hours after a discrepancy is detected, we start responding. We notify the manufacturer, a commission is set up, and every case is investigated. An action plan is prepared to fix the problem and switch the enterprise to the relevant operation mode. The manufacturer either continues working without restrictions or gets a warning. Besides, lab control procedures can be stepped up. In extreme cases the manufacturer's operation will be suspended,” said the official. According to the Agriculture and Food Ministry, at present the operation of nine Belarusian enterprises is suspended. Those are SOOO Cheesemaster, SOOO Starfood, the Kletsk branch of OAO Slutsk Cheese Factory, OOO Milkavita, OOO Petrovich & Co, ZAO Borisovdetspetsprodukt, SOOO Komertekhservis, OOO Valdas, and OAO Belbakaleya. One cannot agree with claims that the Belarusian side does not take adequate measures, stressed Vasily Pivovar. The Belarusian side is in favor of amending the Eurasian Economic Commission's executive order No. 94 for the sake of making merchandise inspections more transparent and objective. “For instance, we would like representatives of both sides to be present when samples are collected. We would like samples collected not only in retail outlets where storage and sale conditions may not be up to standard,” explained Vasily Pivovar. In his words, Russian colleagues are understanding about the idea. “I think in the near future we will bring about the relevant regulations to make these processes more transparent,” he said. Despite the rather frequent complaints Belarus-Russia interaction in dealing with emerging issues has grown stronger. “The Russian side is always sympathetic if we prove and show everything,” noted Vasily Pivovar. In conclusion he pointed out that despite all the complaints the quality of Belarusian merchandise is improving. “As far as dairy products are concerned, we were the ones to lobby for higher requirements for the quality of milk on the platform of the Eurasian Economic Commission. We have the toughest requirements in comparison with other participants. In particular, as from 1 September milk quality requirements will be raised with regard to somatic cell content and bacterial content,” stated the Belarusian Deputy Agriculture and Food Minister. Thus, the Ministry intends to raise milk production standards. “Naturally if the quality of raw materials is higher, then the quality of end products is higher,” summed up Vasily Pivovar.
Written by belta.by
