New regulations set to hit small-scale meat production in Russia
"Under the regulations, slaughtering should be done only in slaughterhouses or on special slaughter sites, which must be equipped with appropriate equipment," said Vladimir Chernykh, head of the department for livestock and meat processing in Russia’s Voronezh Oblast. "The document also stipulates a pre-slaughter holding, where animals must undergo a preliminary examination, as well as refrigeration units for meat storage."
According to the authorities, the new regulations will reinforce the quality control of meat products and, by the time they come into force, local authorities in all Russian regions should have created enough slaughterhouse and meat processing capacity and have explained to owners of small-scale and peasant farms, where and under what conditions they will be able to take their cattle for slaughter.
"The new system is extremely unfavourable for most small-scale producers," said private pig farmer Yuri Goremika. "In fact, under the new rules, a farmer might have to load a pig or a cow into a vehicle to bring it to a slaughterhouse which could be located hundreds of kilometres away from the farm, then wait until it has been inspected and slaughtered. After that the meat must spend some time inside the slaughterhouse and only then, in a refrigerated vehicle, will the farmer be able to deliver it to its place of sale in the market.
"The owners of the slaughterhouse clearly won’t do that for free and, taking into account the cost of new equipment and transportation, small-scale pig farming will simply become unprofitable".
Currently, meat production on small-scale farms accounts for around 22% of all meat produced in Russia. In Belarus and Kazakhstan, this figure is slightly higher. According to preliminary estimates, at least half of small-scale farmers would not be able to meet the new rules, resulting in Russia losing a large part of its meat production.
Farmers also warn that, if these rules are enforced, the cost of meat – mainly pork – will rise sharply and a large number of consumers will lose the opportunity to consume completely organic meat products.
