June 12, 2007

Meat importers to face tougher Russian regulations

The Russian food safety authority is set to get tough on food safety and quality standards for imported meat further processing as those for meat sent to the retail sector.

Poor quality from imported Brazilian meat --which has been on the rise--has pushed Russia to implement stricter measures to reduce inferior meat products entering the Russian market, according to Sergei Dankvert, head of Russia's agriculture and food safety agency Rosselkhoznazdor during a meeting with Russian meat importers.

He said a recent inspection by Rosselkhoznazdor showed Brazil still has serious problems to settle such as forged veterinary as well as animal health concerns like as foot and mouth disease and tuberculosis.

Dankvert said the new system--which will be introduced in autumn--will have meat undergo same standards of inspection whether it is for retail or manufacturing.

The president of the Russian Meat Union, Mushek Mamikonyan, said that imports of meat into Russia should not be of a standard lower than those required in the European Union.