November 12, 2014

Belarus may resume pork exports to Russia by December

Belarus may resume exporting pork to Russia by December after exports were suspended following the detection of the African swine fever genome in its meat products, officials said.

Vasily Pivovar, director of the veterinary and food oversight department of the Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry, said both countries had "agreed that the Russian colleagues will keep monitoring the situation till the end of the month [November]" and that "the certification of these exports to Russia may be resumed starting 1 December" if the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) is "satisfied."

"[W]e will prepare a joint protocol by the end of the week to stipulate all the joint measures. Monitoring efforts will be stepped up across the board. If we see that everything is okay, then I think after 20 November the certification of all the shipments will be resumed," Pivovar was quoted as saying in a Belarus media report.

Rosselkhoznadzor froze exports of cooled and frozen pork and pork byproducts supplied by the meat-packing factories in Bobruisk, Orsha, Minsk and Mogilev regions Belarus and the Belatmeat Company

after it had detected the African swine fever genome in their products.