The Russian veterinary and phytosanitary service have banned the import of feed and its ingredients from the Czech Republic, the Russian news agency TASS announced. Rosselchoznadzor itself in its statement informs of a temporary restriction on imports of these products with effect from 21 June. The Czech Ministry of Agriculture responded today by announcing that feed in the Czech Republic is produced per European Union regulations and is safe.
“This decision was made by the Office based on unsatisfactory results of an inspection of Czech companies that are authorized to supply feed and additives to Russia,” said Rosselchoznadzor. In its report, it also states that the inspections focused on confirming the guarantees to which the Czech State Veterinary Administration undertook that the relevant establishments would meet the requirements of the Eurasian Economic Union. “The results of the joint work of the Rosselkhoznadzor and the Veterinary and Food Service of the Republic of Belarus have shown that the competent authority of the Czech Republic does not carry out systematic inspections of establishments exporting feed and feed additives to the Eurasian Economic Union.
According to the Russian veterinary and phytosanitary service, the Czechs also, among other things, “do not carry out a full-fledged investigation into detected irregularities” and the Russian-Belarusian inspection found “several violations” in the companies it assessed. The Office will review its decision when the Czech side provides it with the required records and comments on the identified problems.
In response, the Czech State Veterinary Administration (SVS) pointed out that the method and preparation of the inspection of Czech feed producers by the Russian side indicated that a positive result could not be expected. “Already during the inspection, the Russian side’s differing views on how state supervision should work in this area were evident. While EU legislation imposes responsibility on feed safety primarily for producers, the Russian Federation appears to assume that the main responsibility lies with supervisors,” the spokesman said. SVS Petr Vorlíček. According to him, the issue will be discussed next Wednesday by representatives of the European Commission, the Council of the EU, and representatives of member states within the so-called Potsdam group.
Rosselchoznadzor has previously banned the import of feed and feed ingredients from Estonia, Lithuania, the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain, TASS reported.
Last year, Czech producers exported feed for 20.5 billion crowns, of which 23,428 tons of feed worth 1.15 billion crowns to Russia, Vojtěch Bílý, a spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture, told ČTK. He added that Czech feeds are of top quality.
TASS wrote last week, referring to the head of Rosselchoznadzor Sergei Dankvert, that the office could ban the import of animal feed from the Czech Republic due to violation of the rules of registration of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). However, the Russian veterinary and phytosanitary services do not mention GMOs in the current statement. Dankvert also told the agency at the time that his office now controlled feed production throughout Europe.