World meat industry news

On March 5, Rosselkhoznadzor took part in a meeting between Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation Sergey Levin and a Cuban delegation headed by Cuban Food Industry Minister Manuel Santiago Sobrino Martinez. The meeting was also attended by representatives of the Embassy of the Republic of Cuba in Moscow and business circles.

The parties reaffirmed the invariably friendly nature of relations between the two countries and long-term partnerships between Russia and Cuba in various sectors of the economy.

We discussed issues of bilateral cooperation in the field of agriculture and food processing, existing investment opportunities and trade prospects in this area, in particular, the interest of both parties in expanding the volume and range of supplies of agricultural products, which is currently represented mainly by coffee, cocoa beans, tobacco and seafood from the Cuban side, and wheat from the Russian side.

Describing the relationship between the competent supervisory agencies of the two countries responsible for the safety of the supplied products, Vasily Lavrovsky, Advisor to the Head of the Rosselkhoznadzor, confirmed the existence of regular contacts with the National Center for Animal Health (CENASA) and the Cuban National Plant Protection Organization, as well as the absence of technical obstacles to increasing the supply of traditional Cuban plant products and seafood to the Russian market.

At the same time, a situation has arisen in which Russian exporters are currently unable to supply dairy and fish products in demand in Cuba, animal feed, poultry, beef and pork, offal and finished meat products, due to the expiration of all previously certified 14 Russian enterprises of the validity period (2 years) of the CENASA export permit, despite the absence of formal claims to the safety and quality of their products.

The parties have already agreed on the possibility of a visit by Cuban inspectors to Russia to check enterprises interested in delivering their products to Cuba, the number of which, including previously certified ones, has increased to 27.

In order to optimize the timing and procedure for conducting the inspection, they suggested that Manuel Santiago Sobrino Martinez agree with CENASA on the possibility of extending accreditation for enterprises previously admitted to the Cuban market under the guarantees of Rosselkhoznadzor and focus during the visit on getting acquainted with the animal disease prevention system at new candidate enterprises.

They proposed to continue work in the field of electronic certification of regulated cargoes and joint development of means of protecting animals and plants from diseases and pests on the basis of subordinate research institutes.

The Cuban delegation assured that they would bring the Rosselkhoznadzor's proposal to the leadership of CENASA, and confirmed their intention to develop trade, economic and scientific and technical ties between our countries.