April 26, 2011
Rosselkhoznadzor inspects Brazilian meat plants
Experts from the Rosselkhoznadzor and representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (MAPA) of Brazil inspected 29 Brazilian plants which planned to export their meat products.
The Rosselkhoznadzor is the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance of Russia, which officially notified the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (MAPA) of Brazil that the Customs Union legal framework had entered into force in August 2010.
Brazilian plants producing beef, pork, poultry meat, feeds and other finished meat products were inspected. Out of the 29 plants, 13 plants were found violating the Russian Law requirements concerning food product safety. The inspection revealed that the quality of the system enabling compliance of Brazilian meat products with the Russian Law safety standards had decreased in recent years.
Plants previously included by the Rosselkhoznadzor in the list of approved plants to export finished meat products (relying on guarantees of the Brazilian Veterinary Services) declared that they did not intend to export their products to Russia. Quality and safety control specialists at the plants were unfamiliar with the Russian veterinary and sanitary requirements and norms.
The current national programme and the plant programme require few tests of raw meat samples and finished products for safety criteria; thus, safety of all the products produced at the plant cannot be ensured. Monitoring tests for mercury, pesticides, dioxins and radionuclides have not been conducted at the plants for the past three years. At the same time, 262 consignments which did not meet the Russian law requirements have been detected after monitoring tests of animal products from Brazil for safety. Laboratory monitoring tests of the Brazilian meat products have demonstrated bacterial contamination (Listeria, Salmonella, E.coli) and tetracycline antibiotics.
Temporary restrictions on export of products are imposed now on 27 Brazilian meat-processing plants and 14 restrictions were imposed on 14 plants in 2010. Enhanced control was provided at 16 Brazilian plants in 2010.
Based on the preliminary results of the inspection, the Rosselkhoznadzor specialists proposed to impose temporary restrictions on exports from all the inspected plants to Russia/the Customs Union since they did not meet the Customs Union legislation requirements. Materials collected during the inspection are now being analysed by the Rosselkhoznadzor Central Office so as to determine corrective measures.
