Russian-Norwegian working group tackling seafood safety and conservation issues

Mutual Russian-Norwegian working group dealing with the issues of seafood export/import safety and conservation of aquatic biological stocks was established in June 2007 in Bergen in the course of negotiations of Russia's Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance Rosselkhoznadzor with the Norwegian Food Control Authority and Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries, according to Rosselkhoznadzor.

At the meeting which took place in Saint Petersburg the Russian delegation was led by head of the Organizational-Inspectorial Department of Rosselkhoznadzor Igor Chernyshenko, while the Norwegian side was headed by Director of the National Seafood Centre of Norway Roald Voge. At the meeting the Russian delegation presented the results of the inspection of the Norwegian herring producers. The Norwegian side undertook to ractify the defects discovered in the course of inspection and accepted the proposal of Rosselkhoznadzor about an extra inspection of herring plants in the central and southern Norway.

The Russian side also informed the Norwegian delegation about approval of four Norwegian salmon and trout processing plants F 480, H 107, H 120 and T 380 for export of their products from Norway to Russia.

The plan of Rosselkhoznadzor's future inspections of the Norwegian fish processing plants in the year 2008 will be agreed later.

At the meeting the sides also discussed the issues connected with introduction of the new port control system. The Norwegian delegation agreed with the necessity of the Russian inspectors to check the Russian vessels in the Norwegian ports. The Norwegians also committed themselves to check the Russian vessels for presence of the Health Certificate issued by Russia's FGUP National Fish Quality Centre for seafood products landed by the Russian fishermen to the Norwegian cold stores. The sides also agreed to exchange information about landings in third countries or at-sea transshipments of mutually regulated fish species in the Barents Sea and in the Norwegian Sea.