Belarus stops pork exports to Russia
Pork exports from Belarus to Russia have been temporarily suspended due to veterinary issues, it was reported by local media BelTA.
According to the report Vasily Pivovar, Director of the Veterinary and Food Oversight Department of the Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry said: “We have an arrangement with Russian colleagues: given the current epizootic situation as of today (4 November) we are suspending the certification of pork products until all the circumstances are totally clarified, including the sources from which the African swine fever (ASF) genome came to infect products of several Belarusian meat-packing factories.”
Belarus will no longer export cooled and frozen pork and pork by-products to Russia. “We have also agreed to finish the investigation by 11 November, hold a working meeting and determine our future steps,” noted Vasily Pivovar.
In October 2014 Russian veterinary watchdog Rosselhozndzor announced that ASF genome had been found in products made by meat-packing factories in Bobruisk, Orsha, Minsk, and Mogilev. “We are investigating the sources the genome came from to these meat-processing enterprises,” informed the Director of the Veterinary and Food Oversight Department of the Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry.
Vasily Pivovar pointed out that veterinary specialists in Belarus already have the methods to detect ASF genome in pork products. He assured that teams of competent specialists had been dispatched to the meat-packing factories, in which products ASF genome has been found. An investigation into the presence of ASF genome in products made by all the Belarusian meat-packing factories is already underway.
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