Russian vets completed talks with China's administration for quality supervision, inspection and quarantine

Specialists from Russia's Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) have completed talks with China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, the sides have discussed issues of securing safety of seafood, both wild and farmed, shipped from China to Russia and vice versa, reports www.fishnet-russia.com (www.fishnet.ru) with reference to the Service.

The Russian delegation has drawn attention of the Chinese side to the need of strengthening control by the nation's competent bodies of the incoming seafood products made by the Russian fishing and processing vessels and companies. The Russian side has also confirmed its decision to allow continuation of seafood shipments from non-approved Chinese plants until 1 July 2009. By that time it is necessary to conduct a mutual inspection of Chinese fish processing plants, the check is to result into a list of Chinese vessels/plants approved for export of their seafood to Russia.

The participants have also come to an agreement to shortly conduct mutual checks of Russian and Chinese fish processing plants interested in shipping their products to China and Russia correspondingly. Besides, the talks have brought concordance of drafts of the Russian-Chinese memorandum on safety of seafood products exported from Russia to China and from China to Russia and on obtaining a veterinary certificate. Signing of the memo will be timed for the next meeting of the joint Russian-Chinese working group. By 20 April 2009 the Chinese side is to send to the Russian vets a proposal for the event's deadline. The talks have also touched issues of shipments of animal and vegetable products from China to Russia, checks by the Russian vets of Chinese rabbit meat producers and shipments of wheat from Russia and China.