May 6, 2011

Temporary ban on Russian meat by Qatar

Qatar's Joint Committee for Food Inspection has recommended a temporary ban on the import of Russian meat products due to fears of Foot-and-Mouth disease (FMD).

The ban was agreed on at a meeting of the Joint Committee for Food Inspection held under the chairmanship of director of the public health department at the Supreme Council of Health (SCH) Dr. Sheikh Mohamed bin Hamad bin Jassim al Thani.

The meeting was also attended by representatives of the concerned parties from the ministry of municipality and urban planning, the ministry of business and trade and the ministry of environment.

During the meeting, the said committee members approved the recommendations adopted by the work team to study the voluntary validity period of some foodstuffs and agreeing to extend the validity period of tahina, a thick sauce made of sesame oil, for another year as per the scientific research forwarded in this regard and the extending the oils' validity period according to the Gulf standards' specifications.

The aforesaid committee also abrogated the procedures for the ratification of the certificates of origin, commercial invoices, documents and the attached documents on part of the state's embassies and consulates abroad for goods exchanged among the Arab member states in the Greater Arab Free Trade Organisation according to the cabinet's decision number.