The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine has stated that there are no political reasons for the situation with restrictions on imports of Belarusian products to Ukraine.
"This is not a political issue. This is a technical issue and the sides are discussing it actively," the ministry’s spokesman, Oleksandr Dykusarov, has said at a briefing, while commenting on the situation with supplies of Belarusian products to Ukraine.
He noted that Kyiv had doubts regarding proper checks of product quality by the Belarusian side and is actively discussing the issue.
"The Belarusian side assured Ukraine that they will carry out product quality controls properly," Dykusarov said.
As reported, the State Veterinary and Biosecurity Service of Ukraine from March 1, 2012 temporarily suspended imports to Ukraine of milk and dairy products from Belarus, as well as animals susceptible to ASF, and products and raw materials produced from them.
According to the state service, several infringements of Ukraine’s veterinary and sanitary requirements were discovered during a state inspection of dairy products imported from Belarus to Ukraine in February 2012. In particular, traces of veterinary drugs in dairy products from Belarusian producers exceeded the maximum permitted levels.
"This is evidence of systemic infringements and insufficient control by the empowered body in Belarus over the use of veterinary drugs, and the observation of the requirements of the importing country by Belarusian companies," the press service said.
The State Veterinary and Biosecurity Service said that on February 16, 2012, in the settlement of Neznanovo in Belarus, all of the pigs at private households were killed and burned. However, according to the statements of the Belarusian Agriculture Ministry and the veterinary and biosecurity control department, the above-mentioned actions were carried out as a part of an exercise on how to fight ASF.
Ukraine will cancel a ban on imports of milk and dairy products from Belarus introduced from March 1, 2012 if Belarus guarantees that it will carry out proper checks on antibiotic content in them, First Deputy Chairman of the State Veterinary and Biosecurity Service of Ukraine, Volodymyr Horzheyev, said. He also said that Ukrainian specialists could check the milk and dairy product control system in Belarus.
He said that the ban on imports of milk and dairy products from Belarus was not a political step, but was linked only to supplies from a country of foodstuffs in which the antibiotic content exceeded the requirements set by Ukrainian law. Horzheyev added that Ukrainian veterinary service had warned their colleagues from Belarus about its intention to put a ban in autumn last year. He said that this was a temporary measure aimed at ensuring food safety in Ukraine. He said that Belarus supplies around 1,000 tonnes of milk and dairy products per month to Ukraine.
