Amendment to the Russian Sanitary and Labeling Requirements for Fish
Report Highlights:
On April 21, 2010, Chief Sanitary Officer of the Russian Federation approved new sanitary rules to improve the quality of frozen fish and products, specify weight of glaze applied on different categories of seafood, and provide the consumer with more detailed information regarding the product. The new additions to sanitary and labeling requirements will come into force on October 1, 2010.
General Information:
Executive Summary
On April 21, 2010, the Chief Sanitary Officer of the Russian Federation approved Amendment # 17 to SanPiN 2.3.2.1078-01 The Hygienic Requirements for Foodstuff Safety and Nutritional Value as regards to fish and fish products. The new sanitary rules are called to improve the quality of frozen fish and products, specify weight of glaze applied on different categories of seafood, and provide the consumer with more detailed information regarding the product. The new additions to sanitary and labeling requirements will come into force on October 1, 2010.
In 2009, the Head of the Federal Fishery Agency Andrey Krayniy and other government officials raised their concern with the poor quality of fish. The major issue was the water content in frozen imported fish that in most cases exceeded 50 percent of the product weight. Laboratory tests conducted with support of “Rossiyskaya Gazeta” revealed that in a number of instances product called Pollock fillet was in fact Pollock trimmings mixed with ice.
Currently the Government is working to adopt another national standard for fish and seafood products– technical regulation. The GOR and the Russian fishery industry agreed that implementation of the new regulation will strengthen requirements for fish and seafood quality. The Head of the Fishery Agency Andrey Krayniy states that the primary objectives of the technical regulation for fish and fish products are: protection of consumers’ health; preventing consumers from low quality as well as from falsified products. Currently the document is going through the 2nd reading at the State Duma. It is expected that the regulation will be approved by the end of CY 2010.
