Director of Sernapesca held a high stakes face-to-face meeting in Moscow with the director of Russia’s veterinary service.
In the past few weeks, Russia’s veterinary service Rosselkhoznadzor has locked out Norwegian, Faroese (Bakkafrost) and now increasingly Chilean salmon farmers out of the Russian Federation.
Mowi Chile, Nova Austral, Salmones Camanchaca, Granja Marina, Cermaq Chile and more recently Pesquera Camanchaca were added to Russia’s growing list.
ON Thursday, the director of the Chilean fishing and aquaculture authority Sernapesca Alicia Gallardo held a meeting with the director of the Rosselkhoznadzor (Russian Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision Service), Sergey Dankvert.
In a release, Gallardo said it was possible to reach an agreement on three important points which “could unlock the blockade of Chilean salmon imposed by the Eurasian giant”.
The authority said that a permanent communication link has now been established and a videoconference will be held to address communication, analysis methodology and the control that Chile performs in terms of safety.
Gallardo stressed to Sergey Dankvert that Sernapesca had found negative, undetected results in her country’s fish – in reference to Rosselkhoznadzor’s claim that traces of oxytetracycline – an antibacterial medicine – have been discovered.
“The sources of information on unfavourable cases were discussed and he agreed to send a dossier with the analysis of each case so that he could perform a better analysis of each particular situation,’ wrote Sernapesca.
The final point, one in which most salmon farmers are eager to know more about, addressed when restrictions could be expected to be lifted.
“A note addressed to the Russian Phytosanitary and Veterinary Authority is being sent this Thursday afternoon, confirming the compliance situation. Therefore, it is possible that in the next few days these four plants will be authorized to resume their exports to the Eurasian Economic Union,” it wrote.
On Friday, Gallardo will be visiting the laboratory that performed the analysis of the samples in Moscow. “The Russian entity is very interested in signing a collaboration agreement in the technical-scientific field with our country, which constitutes an important milestone to understand the methodologies applied by the Rosselkhoznadzor,” wrote Sernapesca.
