By the end of 2023, the EEC will adopt rules regulating the circulation of disinfectants and disinfestants for veterinary purposes

"The rules for regulating the circulation of disinfectants and disinfestants for veterinary purposes are at an advanced stage of readiness. I hope that they will be adopted by the end of this year," the expert specified at the round table "Scientific and practical support for the dairy industry. Objectives and methods of legal regulation of the dairy industry in RUSSIA. Acceptable and unacceptable methods of competition."

He noted that the EEC has a special legal role in the field of veterinary measures, which ensures the creation of a single legal field for the free circulation of safe products for the life and HEALTH of humans and animals in the union space. it is impossible to achieve food security without epizootic well-being, ensured by veterinary services. Therefore, interaction between MILK producers and processors, regulatory authorities and the veterinary service is necessary.

“I ask you to listen to veterinarians, because they can ensure a balance so that the animal is healthy and so that no medicinal preparations appear in the raw materials,” Valery Sitnikov clarified.

He also recalled the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease on the border between the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan in late 2021 - early 2022, when supplies of all dairy and MEAT products were stopped due to the closure of territories. The rules on the procedure for interaction between authorized bodies when introducing temporary sanitary and quarantine measures help authorized bodies in the field of veterinary medicine to carry out this interaction. 

Decision No. 80 of the EEC Council adopted the rules of methodology for conducting laboratory studies to implement veterinary control and supervision. But a document was needed that would help and systematize those laboratory studies , including in the dairy industry. Decision No. 27 adopted uniform veterinary requirements for objects subject to veterinary control.

"By the Council's decision of January 22, 2022, No. 1, the rules for regulating the circulation of veterinary drugs were adopted. They imply a unified registration procedure, a unified procedure for the quality and safety of veterinary drugs, and criteria for their evaluation," the speaker added.

A participant in the round table asked Valery Sitnikov a question that worries Russian producers and exporters of food products, concerning the list of studies that ROSSELKHOZNADZOR requires to be conducted . This list is very different from the studies required to introduce products into circulation on the domestic market.

"Should we admit that the products we eat are not safe enough to be sent to foreigners? Why can't we take any product from a Russian shelf and send it abroad? As I understand it, additional studies should only be conducted if the receiving country requires them, and not because the Rosselkhoznadzor laboratories are underloaded," a participant in the roundtable asked.

Valery Sitnikov suggested that the situation with Rosselkhoznadzor is not an isolated case, and Rosselkhoznadzor "cannot demand". At the same time, he explained that if a country is ready to buy food products and pay money for it , then the products "must be much better than inside the country", which is why increased requirements appear. This is how Russia acts .

"We raised the issue at the Board that very serious research and technical requirements for products, since in recent decades methods have emerged to determine the presence of a particular veterinary drug or substance even at the genetic level. Discussion is underway: should such products be banned for sale or allowed? Before banning any substance, research is conducted to determine how dangerous it is for the population. It is very difficult to say here, let's simplify everything and not demand anything. We decide for ourselves - whether health and safety are more important or whether it is more important to produce products and make a profit," the expert explained.

Deputy DIRECTOR of the Department of Technical Regulation and Accreditation of the EEC Tatyana Nikolaeva expressed her opinion on this issue. According to her, each country separately sets requirements for products entering its market. But, as a rule, in almost 100% of cases, products are supplied under safety guarantees from supervisory authorities. 

"First, the veterinary system of the country that will supply the products is assessed in terms of epizootic welfare. We participate in the international system, all information about animal diseases is sent there, all countries, including countries that are members of the WTO, see this information, what is our level of disease. And it is Rosselkhoznadzor that, under its guarantees, carries out repeated control, including of EXPORT products. Therefore, it is impossible to say that the products that are sold and consumed in the Russian Federation are less safe than those that are exported to the European Union. I would say that it is the other way around, therefore our control and regulatory bodies work very actively specifically to protect our health," Tatyana Nikolaeva summed up.

The second participant of the round table spoke about another "painful" problem of food exports, especially to CHINA . This concerns the list of banned pesticides, which includes 200 substances.

"None of our laboratories have such capabilities. We do not have a method that would allow us to detect such substances. For example, biochips are used to detect veterinary drugs, which determine their presence or absence. In terms of pesticides, this is a sore subject for all countries in the world. Therefore, here we have to use some separate methods, including Rosselkhoznadzor, to be on the safe side," a participant in the round table expressed her opinion.

She also explained that during deliveries to China, it was discovered that chromium was found in some products. Experts traced the entire production chain, right down to the raw materials, and found the presence of chromium in them.

"And this was help to the processor himself, who found his problem and simultaneously solved two more. Therefore, these additional requirements sometimes give us the opportunity to organize and perceive these indicators," she concluded.