27 Sep 2018 18:00

Kazakh Agriculture Ministry: Kazakhstan, Russia agree not to ban livestock product imports over problems with integration of info systems until Oct 2019

ASTANA. Sept 27 (Interfax) - Following consultations in Moscow, Kazakhstan and Russia have agreed to complete the integration of their information systems for veterinary certification by October 2019, Tursyn Kaboldadanov, the deputy chairman of the Veterinary Control and Supervision Committee of Kazakhstan's Ministry of Agriculture, said.

"The restriction of exports or imports of livestock products will not be considered until October 2019," Kabldolodanov said at a briefing in Astana on Thursday.

He also said that the agreement only prevents the imposition of restrictions over problems that arise with the integration of information systems. In the event of disease, restrictive measures will be taken, he said.

The Kazakh side has expressed its readiness to intensify the integration work and plans to complete the handover of veterinary certificates by mid-May 2019. The Russian side will complete the handover of data on veterinary certificates by October 2019, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

Representatives of the Kazakh Ministry of Agriculture were in Russia between September 24 and 26 to discuss technical issues related to the integration of Kazkhstan's Unified Automated Control System for agriculture and Russia's Vetis Federal State Information System.

Meanwhile, Russia's Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) delayed the imposition of a ban on imports of animal product from Kazakhstan from October 1 to November 1.

The imposition of the ban was delayed following a meeting with Kazakh specialists in Moscow on Wednesday, Rosselkhoznadzor's press secretary Yulia Melano told Interfax.

The meeting resulted in the signing of an interagency agreement on the stages for integrating the two countries' information systems.

Rosselkhoznadzor said earlier that Russia might impose a ban on imports of all animal products from Kazakhstan startng October 1.

Kazakh animal product exports to Russia are currently accompanied by documents that do not specify where raw materials were produced, and often not even where the finished products were produced. Rosselkhoznadzor has analyzed the risks and concluded that in the absence of reliable, complete information that the animal products were produced in Kazakhstan, there are likely to be instances in which products embargoed by Russia are re-exported from Kazakhstan and in which documents on transit through Russia are falsified, according to Rosselkhoznadzor.

The relevant agencies of Russia and Kazakhstan have agreed on a schedule for the integration of the Kazakhstan Unified Automated Control System for Agriculture and Russia's Vetis Federal State Information System. At Rosselkhoznadzor's initiative, the dates and stages of its implementation were adjusted in July 2017. However, Kazakhstan failed to meet the deadlines and did not provide any explanations, according to the Russian side.