World meat industry news

In Q1, just 69,000 tonnes of meat products were shipped to Russia. "If the dynamics stay in place, the annual target will be missed", say official sources.

The Russian Agriculture Ministry is invited on May 15 in Minsk to discuss trade issues with its Belarusian counterpart. "In January-March we shipped 69,000 tonnes of meat products. If the dynamics stay in place, the annual target will be missed as well. Restrictions of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance of Russia (Rosselkhoznadzor) on our food export are having a negative effect on the ability to hit the specified figures", declared Aleksei Bogdanov, Head of the Central Office for Foreign Economic Activities of the Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry, for Belta agency.

He also stressed that there are no expectations for the restriction to be lifted immediately due to the absence of Rosselkhoznadzor head from the meeting.
Another discussion is regarding the draft concept of the program on forming a competitive base of genetic resources as part of the Belarusian pedigree livestock farming system. The program provides for the development of crossbreeding and selection centers in Belarus and Russia. Some facilities will be located in Belarus while some will be located in Russia. The program is supposed to reduce dependence on pedigree genetic material imported from third countries.