Rosselkhoznadzor begins inspecting pet food manufacturers in Italy

MOSCOW. Nov 20 (Interfax) - Rosselkhoznadzor specialists on Monday began inspecting pet food manufacturers in Italy.

"The purpose of this visit is to confirm guarantees previously issued by the Italian Veterinary Service regarding compliance with Russian requirements, as well as the compliance of feed products intended for the Russian market with the quality and safety requirements established in the EAEU," the service said in a statement.

Experts also plan to visit laboratories that test the pet food products. Inspections will last through November 24.

Earlier, Rosselkhoznadzor reported that it had identified cases of non-compliance in imported pet foods with the raw material compositions declared by their European manufacturers. As such, it asked the competent authorities of a number of countries, including Italy, to provide supporting information on quality control and compliance with recipes, as well as whether studies are conducted on the full declared component compositions of the products.

Materials, including those submitted by the Italian Veterinary Service, were received within the prescribed period. However, their analyses showed that laboratory tests for the products' compliance with their declared compositions are not conducted for each component; information on confirmation of compliance with the composition is declarative in nature and is not confirmed by research protocols for plant and animal components, the statement said.