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- Here are parasites: in the Russian Federation, the turnover of fish products is tightened due to helminths
Here are parasites: in the Russian Federation, the turnover of fish products is tightened due to helminths
All fish products reaching Russian shelves will be checked for parasites before and after processing. The authorities want to ban the sale of goods even with inanimate larvae, which are visible to the naked eye. Now it is possible to sell them, but the Ministry of Agriculture has already prepared amendments to the technical regulations prohibiting this, "Izvestia" has learned. The authorities also plan to introduce additional control at the stage of product packaging. Business representatives assess the initiative in different ways. On the one hand, many support it, but some believe that it may lead to an increase in the final prices in stores. The public in turn point to the increasing number of cases of parasite detection, for example, in canned fish.
Control over the production of fish products
Russia will tighten the turnover of finished fish products, which will be checked for the presence of live and dead larvae. In addition, the authorities plan to establish a ban on the sale of such goods with visible non-living parasites. The Ministry of Agriculture told Izvestia about the preparation of the relevant amendments to the technical regulations of the Eurasian Economic Union "On the safety of fish and fish products". As specified in the department, at the moment the document is undergoing the procedure of domestic harmonization.
"Processed and unprocessed food fish products of animal origin before release into circulation must be examined for the presence of live parasites and their larvae," the draft amendments, which are at the disposal of "Izvestia", say.
According to it, if dangerous live parasites and their larvae are detected, such products should be frozen or other methods should be applied to them to guarantee their safety. At the same time, the Ministry of Agriculture emphasized that frozen products (they should be frozen to a temperature in all parts of the product not higher than -20 °C for at least 24 hours or not higher than -35 °C for at least 15 hours) do not pose a danger to human health. In addition, it should be tested for the presence of dead parasites, which are considered not dangerous to human health. It is proposed to establish the possibility of releasing such products into circulation depending on the degree of their infestation.
According to the document, it is not allowed to sell processed and unprocessed food fish products of animal origin, intended for consumers and packed in consumer packaging or packaged by retail trade organizations, parts of which are affected by parasites that are not alive but visible during visual inspection.
In the current version of the technical regulation the examination is provided only for fish catches grown in natural and artificial environment. In addition, it does not contain restrictions in the presence of dead parasites.
- The draft changes, in particular, are aimed at excluding the presence of parasites in finished fish products, including non-living parasites, which are visible to the naked eye. At the same time, it includes changes related to various aspects of extraction and turnover of fish and fish food products, concerning not only parasitic safety," the ministry explained to Izvestia.
They noted that the Ministry of Economic Development has already prepared an opinion on the draft changes. At present, the Ministry of Agriculture together with Rosselkhoznadzor, Rosrybolovstvo, as well as a subordinate scientific institute are working out comments on it, the Ministry's press service said.
- The Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Agriculture continue to work on a compromise version of the technical regulations in order to take into account the concerns of business about additional costs while giving unconditional priority to consumer safety," the press service of the Ministry of Economic Development told Izvestia.
As "Izvestia" found out, the Ministry criticized a number of proposals to strengthen control over such products and considered that they may lead to excessive costs for business. At the same time, in its conclusion on the draft document, it notes that up to 100% of frozen fish products with an estimated value of 200 to 300 billion rubles, given the unfavorable situation in fishing areas with regard to parasitic indicators, may be unsuitable for sale to consumers.
In this regard, Izvestia sent a request to Rosselkhoznadzor and Rosrybolovstvo to comment on the need to strengthen control over fish products.
Quality control of fish products
- The position of the Fish Union is that we generally support the wording put forward by the working group on the ORVi and believe that raw materials should be examined once at the stage of primary input into circulation, and further it is necessary to control the products already packed in consumer packaging for sale to the end consumer- explained to "Izvestia" a member of the working group on amendments to the technical regulations, chairman of the Union Alexander Panin.
According to him, the working group on this change in the technical regulations was created back in February 2022. During this time, it held about 12 meetings, which resulted in the formulation of proposals to adjust the wording.
- It is critically important not to allow products to appear on the shelves of stores that may cause rejection in the consumer, including due to the presence of visible non-living parasites on them. At the same time, controlling authorities should have a mechanism to check and take action if suddenly the products packaged for sale to the end consumer turn out to be of inadequate quality," explained the business representative.
According to him, control only in terms of live parasites does not provide such a guarantee, and on the contrary, it opens opportunities for unscrupulous market participants to supply infected products.
- This clearly contradicts the objectives of the roadmap to increase consumption of domestic fish products and the efforts of industry market participants in this direction, - said Alexander Panin.
German Zverev, president of the All-Russian Association of Fish Producers (VARPE), told Izvestia that he was aware of the document's development.
- The first version was submitted for public discussion in December 2023. The instruction to finalize it was given by Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov. After the changes were worked out with the business community. But in September, the Ministry of Agriculture presented a new version," explained the business representative.
According to him, this document completely changes the very approach to the definition of the object of parasitological research.
- According to expert estimates, it will lead to a multiple increase in the regulatory and financial burden on the fishing industry along the entire chain from sea to the counter, and then to an increase in selling prices for fish products by 7-8%- German Zverev.
He noted that the study for parasites is carried out now, because it is provided by the 19th and 20th paragraphs of the technical regulations of the EAEU on the safety of fishery products. Which, according to him, is reasonable and allows to identify dangerous fish infected with live helminths.
- However, it follows from the new draft of the Ministry of Agriculture that before each release into circulation along the entire production chain, each producer will need to perform such tests. For example, the fish will first be tested by the extracting company, and then the fish processor, which produces fillets or ready-to-eat products from this raw material, will have to carry out the tests again. This will lead to an inevitable increase in production costs and the final price on the shelf," says a business representative.
Oleg Pavlov, head of the Public Council at Rospotrebnadzor, head of the Public Consumer Initiative, is of a different opinion.
- The increasing number of parasite larvae found in canned fish has received a wide public response. This indicates a clear unwillingness of citizens to consider the presence of foreign and potentially harmful parasites in consumed products acceptable. An unplanned encounter with larvae in canned food can at least cause nausea or vomiting," he explained to Izvestia.
According to him, therefore, strengthening control is simply necessary. He also draws attention to the fact that the Ministry of Economic Development proposes to soften the ban on the sale of products with maggots, limiting its ban to live parasites only. In the opinion of the public, this is unacceptable. As he explained to Izvestia, in this connection he has sent an appeal to the head of the Cabinet of Ministers, Mikhail Mishustin, asking him to support the position of consumers and the Ministry of Agriculture.
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