To ensure that cargoes stolen in Ukraine, including grain, are not transported through the territory of Latvia, on Thursday, 24 September, the Saeima adopted in the final reading an amendment to the Law on Circulation of Animal Feedingstuffs.

“It is crucial to ensure that Latvia is not used for transporting grain that Russia has stolen in Ukraine. We therefore need an effective control system that would allow us to verify the true origin of consignments,” stressed Arvils Ašeradens, Chair of the Saeima Economic, Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Policy Committee responsible for advancing the amendment.

The amendment provides for the inspection of feed consignments, including the taking of samples for laboratory testing, in order to verify their origin. It is particularly important when there is suspicion that the actual origin of a consignment does not correspond to that indicated in the accompanying documents or that it may be linked to territories of Ukraine occupied by Russia, noted the Chair of the Committee.

The Cabinet of Ministers shall determine which consignments of animal feed imported from third countries are to be subject to controls, as well as establish the relevant control requirements and procedures.

The Food and Veterinary Service will carry out border controls of feed consignments and take samples, while laboratory testing will be performed by the Institute of Food Safety, Animal Health and Environment “BIOR” in its capacity as the official control laboratory.

The need for such controls was initially identified in relation to feed consignments transported from Russia and Belarus not intended for distribution on the European Union market. At the same time, the types of products to control, their transport routes, and indications of origin may change in the future, therefore a flexible control mechanism is needed to be able to respond to such changes, stated the Economic Committee responsible for the draft law.

Saeima Press Service