September 4, 2013

Russia may ban Polish meat products

Due to violations of Russia's veterinary regulations by Polish companies, Russia may impose an import ban on meat products from Poland.

According to the Alexei Alexeenko, press-secretary of Russian veterinary watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor, that during the past week, Rosselkhoznadzor had identified three such violations, which the Russian department described as a "major fraud".

"Importers were trying to export the meat with veterinary certificates that did not match the product itself. For example, some companies were trying to supply products under inappropriate stamps, with meat that had actually been produced by other companies in another country of origin - for example, Germany and Spain - and with changed labels," he reported.

Alexeenko revealed that Rosselkhoznadzor considers the mislabelling issue as a problem across all EU countries, and one which could lead to serious import restrictions if no further action on the matter is taken.

"We are talking about a very serious system failure, when contraband production is covered by veterinary certificates. We hope [the EU] will quickly take all necessary measures [to tackle the situation], as this is an extremely serious violation," he said.

In addition, Rosselkhoznadzor last week banned the supply of meat from the companies Zakłady Mięsne Carnis Koło Bronisław Rowecki SP J and Zakład Przemysłu Mięsnego Biernacki Sp z oo, which supplied meat to Russia that was found to be infected with E.coli.

The watchdog claimed such incidents were happening due to the absence of an appropriate veterinary control system in the EU.

According to the Russian National Meat Association, Russia is an important sales market for Polish meat, particularly beef. In 2012, Polish exports of chilled beef to Russia amounted to 6,530 tonnes, around 16% of Russia's total chilled beef imports. Russia also imported 5,700 tonnes of frozen beef from Poland last year, as well as 7,220 tonnes of pork and 5,200 tonnes of poultry, with the total value of Polish meat imports hitting €84.5 million (US$111 million).

In the first half of 2013, Poland supplied 960 tonnes of chilled beef to Russia, which was 5.3% of total imports, as well as 2,400 tonnes of frozen beef, 7,200 tonnes of pork and 4,750 tonnes of poultry.