Sanitation of the dairy market

The history of Russian-Belarusian food relations is full of numerous prohibitions, permissions and negotiations. The supply of dairy products from Belarus to Russia is often called an instrument of political pressure, despite of the common customs area and is recognized as the trade flow under the watchful eye of regulatory agencies. The last year, as some participants of the market say, due to promoted governmental policy of import substitution Belarusian dairy products often face either the enhanced control or prevention on a total ban.

At the end of February, the Rosselkhoznadzor announced the decision to introduce enhanced laboratory control in respect of a number of meat and dairy enterprises of the Republic of Belarus. The violation identified by the Veterinary Department of the Russian Federation in the products of dairy enterprises is high concentrations of natamycin. 

In particular, Rosselkhoznadzor has questions to the following enterprises: JSC "Molodechno dairy plant", branch of Volozhin", JSC "Oshmyansky cheese-making plant", branch of JSC "Lida dairy plant", JSC "Rogachev milk canning plant", the branch for the production of cheese, JSC "Babushkina Krynka" the managing company of the holding "Mogilev dairy company "Babushkina Krynka".

As it was earlier reported by The DairyNews, the Rosselkhoznadzor intends to increase the number of inspections of dairy products made by some Belarusian enterprises. However, the Belarusian side is confident in the quality of products produced by own enterprises and claims that their laboratories do not document violations announced by the Rosselkhoznadzor.

"We learn that the Rosselkhoznadzor has detected some violations, but we do not know all the details. Last year, the Ministry of agriculture of the Republic of Belarus repeatedly appealed to the Rosselkhoznadzor about these checks, and, as far as I know, we never got a clear answer about the details of a sample trial. In Belarus, the sanitation center from time to time does such sample checks of products in stores or on the appeal of citizens. As a result, we know exactly where, when, what product (or what batch) could be a claim, and where and under what circumstances sampling of products for quality control was carried out ", - says Sergey Tsarev, the Head of the Analytical Department of JSC "Savushkin product". – "Of course I can't speak for the entire dairy industry of the country, but the laboratory of our company is equipped with the latest technology. Thus, our production volumes and minimal batches do not provide the separation of products that go to the Russian market and the ones that remain with us", - says the representative of "Savushkin product".

If the checks of Belarusian dairy products by are made Rosselkhoznadzor according to all the rules, then it will help to increase the safety of products "on the market", believe experts interviewed by TheDairyNews. "If producers make a lot of violations, it may decrease the availability of certain products for the short term – the market is global, despite the sanctions", - said Vladimir Surovtsev, Head of the Department of economic and organizational problems of development of branches of agriculture, associate Professor of the North-West research Institute of Economics and organization of agriculture.
Earlier the Minister of agriculture and food of Belarus Leonid Zayats said that the claims to quality of Belarusian products come only from Russia. He stressed that Belarus exports milk and meat to many other countries.

"The control that we have is established at a high level— control of raw milk, control for finished products, control for shipping. We have no doubt in Belarus that veterinary control is belittled or inadequate somewhere. We have accredited laboratories including the regions, we have experienced professionals. There is no doubt that our products are of high quality. There are no claims from other countries though our meat, our milk and finished products are exported to dozens of countries, including the European Union," said Zayats, noting that products manufactured in Belarus are often falsified, in Russia as well.

It is difficult to say how the relations between Russia and Belarus will develop on the dairy market. In any case, Russia is far from self-sufficiency with own milk and Belarusian products have a significant impact on the Russian domestic market.

"I don't know what the Belarusians do with natamycin. As a consumer, I can't identify its content in the product. Unfortunately, we can state that within the range of Belarusian products the share of milk containing products doesn’t become less. I constantly face discrepancy of labeling on Belarusian products and its content. Based on my consumer observations, I support the attitude of the Rosselkhoznadzor for strengthening of monitoring", - said the expert of the dairy market Vladimir Labinov.
 
Yuriy Vlasenko, Director on marketing of the company "PIR Product" notes that at the moment there is more politics than economics in the question of prohibition and control of supplies of Belarusian dairy products.

"On the other hand, from an economic point of view, now it is the most unfavorable time for us because we have less own cheese in spring, as a rule. Unfortunately, the domestic cheese industry cannot provide even 50% of consumption, even under limited by consumer opportunities demand. Without Belarusian products the shelves in stores would just be empty", - says Yuri Vlasenko. The expert notes that the level of milk production in Belarus is very high.

"We don't know what they (Rosselkhoznadzor) find or not. We don’t have the access to test protocols. Secondly, professionals-biochemists know better if it is possible to find natamycin in cheese and why. I know the following: most of the preservatives, stabilizers, or antibiotics that are used in the technological cycle of production of cheese decay during the maturing. Accordingly, when the product goes on sale, it is impossible to detect even traces of use. Besides, it is usually such a minuscule dose that there is no risk to the health of the consumer. I see here three versions: either something was found for the sake of finding, or cheese in the delivery was too immature or they put too much preservative substance, because the raw milk was of very poor quaity. I don't believe in the third version, because raw milk Belarus is excellent, they have upgraded or newly built plants. The level of production is much higher there than at most of our enterprises," - says Yuri Vlasenko.

It has to be noted that in March, Russia and Belarus should agree to the balance of food supplies to markets.

"The balance has already been formed. It is necessary to discuss it, but according to preliminary information that we have, the volume of supplies listed in the balance sheet, is at the level of 2016", - said Leonid Zayats.

The Head of the Main Department for foreign economic activity of the Ministry of agriculture and food of the Republic of Belarus Alexei Bogdanov refused to comment.

Most likely, the experts say that the volume of dairy products from Belarus will remain at the same level or increase. How will this affect Russia's dairy industry in 2017 – in the current environment the market suggests uncertainty, due to the strengthening of the ruble and lack of clarity in matters of state support.

Reference:

Natamycin (pimaricin) is an antifungal agent broad-spectrum. It is used for the local treatment of fungal infections of humans and animals (EMEA, 1998; Malecha, 2004), and is also widely used in the food industry. Characteristics of natamycin make it an ideal bio-preservative for food and beverages. It is safe for consumption, effective at low concentrations, does not affect the quality of foods, and has prolonged antimicrobial activity on the surface of the product (Roller, 2003).
"The Department on sanitary inspection behind quality of foodstuff and medicines" of the United States of America has assigned natamycin with the characteristic GRAS, which means generally safe. It is approved for use as food additives to inhibit moulds and yeasts on the cheese surface in the amount of not more than 20 mg/kg in the finished product (FDA, 2001).

Read full article in Russian on DairyNews.ru