May 31, 2013

India's Ministry of Agriculture initiated the negotiation with Russia's Rosselkhoznadzor for discussion on India's exports of egg powder and buffalo meat into the Russian market.

Alexander Ponomaryov, deputy head of the Department for Veterinary Surveillance, mentioned that Russian-Indian relations in the field of veterinary surveillance were based on Cooperation Agreement in 1999 when mutual exchange of information on epidemic situation has been established. However, importations of veterinary controlled goods are constrained due to challenging epidemic situation in India.

In 2011, India was visited by the Customs Union (CU) experts at the initiative of Kazakhstan. Based on information submitted by India, the Rosselkhoznadzor experts have performed risk analysis on possible egg powder exportation from India.

Amarjeet Singh Nanda, head of the Indian Veterinary Service, assured the Rosselkhoznadzor delegation that India was ready to provide the Rosselkhoznadzor with any necessary information on epidemic situation in India.

The two parties agreed to continue consultations at a higher level during a video conference scheduled for July 2013.

Currently, 68 countries considered it possible to import buffalo meat from India as some of the regions in the country are free from FMD.