RUSSIA.
NO TESTING EQUIPMENT FOR DIOXINS.
The deputy head of Rosselkhoznadzor, the Russian meat inspection agency for the Department of Agriculture Nikoly Vlaslay, claims that his department has no equipment available to test for dioxins in meat.
As the units for testing cost US$900,000 each, there is no likelihood that they will have the equipment anytime soon.
This being the case, the question begs to be asked why Meat Russia publish headlines on 23 December stating that Irish meat was seized containing dioxins, one can only assume this is guilt by association, presuming because the meat is from Ireland and Ireland had dioxin problems, therefore meat from Ireland must have dioxin problems.
The last thing the Irish meat industry need today, are False Rumors in regard to the safety and quality of their meat, based on innuendo and gossip as reported in the publication Meat Russia on the internet, according to a spokesperson from the Department of Agriculture in Dublin on 24 December.
Other news from the region, Belarus have increased the production of processed meat in 2008 by 10.8 %, according to reports from the meat authorities in the country.
There was a truck load of chicken wings seized by government authorities on Xmas eve, that had been imported quite correctly in August of this year from Brazil, however stored in bad conditions and thawed then re-frozen. Making matters worse the driver had no documents for the meat.
The headline in Meat Russia read "Brazilian chicken wings Arrested", one can assume this is a translation error and means the meat was seized or impounded in correct English. The fact that the meat was Brazilian was not the problem as the article insinuates , rather the fact that it had not been stored correctly and had no documentation was the problem, which of course is the fault of the Russian importers.
The fact that the Russian authorities can seize meat, claiming it has problems such as dioxins, yet have no way of testing if it has, gives an indication of how primitive the Russian meat inspection service really is.
The meat trade like the economy in Russia, has developed so rapidly, the infrastructure to cope with the increased volume is not yet in place. The meat plants and cold stores are the most primitive outside of South East Asia or Africa, which will have to change as time goes on.
The ironic thing is the fact that not being able to put their own house in order, the Russian authorities for reasons that can only be construed as political, regularly ban meat from far superior plants than their own located in other countries, from being imported.
