November 12, 2010

Russia to ease import restrictions on Finnish meat

Russian veterinary and phytosanitary authority is expected to lift trade restrictions on Finnish meat following a recent visit to a number of Finnish food processing companies.

"We are under the impression that the companies inspected will now meet the requirements of the Russian legislation," said Kyo"sti Siponen, head of the import and market monitoring unit of EVIRA.

The Russian inspectors from Tuesday (Nov 9) till Thursday visited meat processing company Atria's Nurmo factory, meat packer HK Scan's Forssa production unit, and meat processing firm Liha-Saarioinen's cattle slaughterhouse in Jyva"skyla".

The inspection will determine if import restrictions imposed by Russia can be lifted from the pig slaughterhouses of Atria and HK. Russia earlier this year also issued a temporary import restriction on 14 Finnish dairy and meat production facilities because of alleged failures and shortcomings.

However, these restrictions were cancelled after few weeks following negotiations between the two countries' authorities.