You're reading: Ukraine to check Brazil meat suppliers for ractopamine content

Ukraine plans to check Brazil companies that supply meat to Ukraine for ractopamine.

Russia’s Federal Veterinary and Phytosanitary Oversight Service (Rosselkhoznadzor) reported that First Deputy Agricultural Policy and Food Minister of Ukraine Ivan Bisiuk announced the checks at a meeting with Rosselkhoznadzor Chief Sergei Dankvert in Moscow on February 4, 2013.

According to the report, Bisiuk said that Ukraine has placed the same requirements on the absence of ractopamine in meat supplied by the largest meat supplier to Ukraine – Brazil – as Russia. The press release says that at present, Brazil supplies 170,000 tonnes of pork per year to the Ukrainian market.

“Dankvert and Bisiuk agreed that actions methods in checks of Brazil companies should be coordinated,” reads the report.

At the meeting, the sides expressed alarm at the fact that after the introduction of temporary restrictions on supply of U.S. meat products to Russia, there is a danger of having meat containing ractopamine supplied from the United States via Ukraine.

Dankvert also said that in the near term it is planned to discuss with representatives of competent services from Belarus and Kazakhstan the results of the latest checks of Ukrainian companies that want to supply to the Customs Union products that are subject to veterinary control.