SEAFOODNEWS.COM by Eugene Gerden January 30, 2014 — MOSCOW — The Russian government has officially announced that it will design new rules for veterinary clearance of domestic fish and seafood, with the aim to reduce the number of bureaucratic problems for the domestic fishermen and to create conditions for the increase of the supply of fish to the domestic market.
Fish veterinary control in Russia is usually comprised of two stages: a check of safety of the catch area and laboratory control of each batch of fish.
According to head of Russian Pollock Association German Zverev, this leads to lengthy delays and substantial financial losses of fish producers. According to his estimates, total losses and costs of the domestic fish industry associated with veterinary issue are estimated at 3.6 billion rubles (USD$100 million) per year.
German Zverev has also added that numerous Russian fishing associations have already called on the Russian government to make changes in the existing procedure of veterinary control for fish and seafood, citing the facts that at present only 5 % of the Russian fishery products can be supplied to the domestic market in one day, while for the rest the process of registration may extend up to 12 days. In the case of imported fish, the procedure usually takes one to two days.
Due to the current veterinary procedures and delays, the supplies of fish to the domestic market have been unprofitable for Russian producers. For example, Russian Sea-Dobycha, according to its data, supplied only 20% of its total catch to the domestic market.
According to Pollock Association, in order to ease the process of fish supplies to the domestic market, there is a need to abolish the current rule of the mandatory inspections of all the caught fish and seafood, and instead develop a system of sample inspections.
At the same time, according to Russian Sea-Dobycha, the removal of unnecessary barriers would be beneficial for large fishing companies. But it may also provide an opportunity to unscrupulous fishing companies to start production outside the permitted fishing areas.
This, in turn, could lead to an influx of low-quality products to the market, according to Russian Sea, which due to its competitive positon opposes rules making entry easier for other seafood companies.
In the meantime, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich has already confirmed that the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Economy has started the development of new rules of veterinary control of fish and seafood.
This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.