Translated material
The Trap of Overvigilance
For the sake of Russia, the European Union is ready to tighten its food quality standards
Poland has drawn conclusions from the shortcomings pointed out by Russia in connection with the quality of Polish meat supplied to Russia . This was stated yesterday at a conference in Warsaw on problems of monitoring the safety of livestock products in international trade, Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Poland Krzysztof Ardanovsky. However, according to him, “many enterprises in other countries are ready to buy our meat, recognizing the safety standards that Polish enterprises have been observing for three years after joining the EU.” And he added: “We will trade with those who comply with these standards.”In international trade, according to Mr. Ardanovsky, the main thing is not to fall into the trap of being overly vigilant. Therefore, states that want to enter the international trading system should consider whether to make EU requirements the basis for their rules in foreign trade. European officials will convince other countries of this, but for now Polish firms must decide whether to fight for the Russian market , which has such strict standards, the deputy minister noted. “We come to the conclusion that the Russian government is harming itself on the meat issue,” he said.
Speaking about the embargo on the supply of Polish meat, the chief veterinarian of Poland, Eva Lech, told Russian journalists yesterday that enterprises producing raw meat are ready to immediately accept Russian inspectors if an agreement is reached between Russia and Poland to lift the embargo. The checks that are currently being carried out by the Russian side at 20 Polish livestock plants do not concern meat food products. They apply only to dairy, fat and feed products, which are not subject to the embargo, she emphasized. According to Ms. Lech, the information published in a number of Russian media that earlier EU inspectors, when inspecting Polish enterprises, recognized Polish meat as being of poor quality and deprived a number of enterprises of their licenses, was incorrect. The factories inspected did not supply meat to the foreign market, and they did not have a license to do so. In addition, the identified deficiencies did not relate to the quality of the meat, but related to the condition of the equipment.
As for the transit supplies of meat and offal through Poland, as a result of which low-quality meat entered Russia, then, as the chief veterinarian of Poland explained, prosecutorial checks are being carried out in the country. Their goal is to reveal how meat intended for the production of animal feed came to Russia through third countries under the guise of food.
The meat control system is currently very strict, the veterinarian said. According to EU requirements, even those enterprises that do not sell meat to the foreign market must meet standards. Of the 260 Polish meat factories, about 35 are likely to be closed, Polish health officials say. These enterprises will not be able to supply meat even to the domestic market, and enterprises that violate EU requirements are fined by the Polish authorities, said Eva Lech.
EU officials, in turn, are more accepting of Russian demands. “Russia has stricter food safety standards than Europe, and the EU is working to meet these requirements, otherwise Russia will not accept EU products,” Erik Pudele, director of the European Union’s food department, told a conference in Warsaw yesterday. commissions. In particular, according to Mr. Pudele, especially for Russia, the European Union will develop food production standards according to which the content of pesticides in food should be zero. EU standards allow their presence in food products to be insignificant.