Russia may restrict pork lard imports to one entry point
MOSCOW. Jan 16 (Interfax) - Russian agriculture watchdog Rosselhoznadzor may restrict imports of pork lard to one entry point.
"We will probably restrict the number of entry points through which pork lard enters, it may be that only one will remain, in Bryansk, for example," Rosselkhoznadzor Chairman Sergei Dankvert told Interfax.
It is currently allowed in via every entry point and it is difficult to monitor its safety, he said. "For example, lard comes in blocks from Europe, which are packaged in polyethylene and weigh from 0.8 to 1 tonne, so it is impossible to see what is inside," he said.
There are not enough specialists to unload and inspect all imported products, Dankvert said. "If we decide that there will be one entry point, we can equip it in the right way and train the specialists," he said.
The main problem with this product is that there are no clear regulations for it, Dankvert said. "We need to clearly label this product, to specify how much meat it contains, to say whether it should have skin or not," he said. "Right now all this is determined by each processing company receiving the goods and whoever stands at the border."
As a result the import of pork lard, on which there is no quota, is often used as a cover to get around pork import quotas. "We have already detained a consignment of pork under the guise of lard from Germany. By the way, our Germany colleagues have not reported back on the results of the investigation," he said.
Earlier, Miratorg President Viktor Linnik spoke in favor of introducing quotas for pork byproducts such as lard.
He said that in 2012, of 1.27 million tonnes of pork imports to Russia, 292,000 tonnes was lard, 115,000 tonnes was edible offal and 53,000 tonnes was meat and bone meal. "These are high volumes," he said. "The price of the imported products is lower than in Russia. This makes investment in deep meat processing in Russia unprofitable," he added.
The National Union of Pig Farmers said Russian imports of pork lard fell to 250,000 in 2013.