Russia has not taken the necessary steps to improve its control system for dairy products exported to the EU, concludes a report by the EU’s Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) published on 8 January.
The inspection was carried out in Russia in March 2019 to assess the measures taken after a 2018 audit revealed serious flaws in the “credibility” of official controls on casings, milk and dairy products exported to the EU.
The new audit focused on the official controls in place covering the production, processing and distribution of milk, milk products and casings intended for export to the EU.
The FVO experts reported that the Russian competent authorities have partially implemented the measures requested after the 2018 audit. “Nonetheless, the audit established that overall, the measures to date were not, or not sufficiently effective”, says the FVO. In particular, knowledge of EU requirements by national veterinary service staff “was still insufficient” to ensure reliable official controls.
The system of official controls does not yet ensure that “only establishments that comply with the relevant EU requirements” are proposed for listing and/or are maintained on the lists (establishments that may export products to the EU).
The FVO is also concerned that inspections (in these establishments) are only carried out at the request of/invitation by the food business operator, “who moreover can also impose limits on the scope for these inspections”. As a result, “such inspections do not necessarily include the verification of compliance with all relevant EU requirements”, EU experts note.
Finally, due to insufficient knowledge by control staff, there is no guarantee that the criteria (only raw materials complying with EU requirements are used to produce dairy products that can be exported) are respected by operators. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)