Russia compromises to ease imports after SOS call from local pet industry

In a meeting held by the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselhoznadzor, RSN), head Sergey Dankvert stated that the regulator is ready to propose rules to simplify the clearance of goods.

According to Dankvert, the RSN has not restricted the import of vitamins, and today’s import volumes depend on each country’s particular decision.

Official figures from the federal executive body show a “significant drop” in pet food supply from Germany (-27%), followed by Denmark and Norway.

The head of the RSN also showed his surprise that supplies from France, Italy, Hungary and Austria are also decreasing. Imports of pet food and ingredients from those European countries have never been suspended by Russian authorities.

Dankvert compromised with the pet industry to authorize new pet food suppliers. Yulia Dolzhenkova from Zooinform told GlobalPETS that talks are underway with China, Brazil and Argentina.

Kirill Dmitriev from the National Pet Business Association highlighted that it is “absolutely critical” to resume imports.“This would allow importers to increase pet food supply volumes to Russia,” he said.

Dmitriev also urged a simplified authorization procedure for the new plants and countries to maintain pet food and food supplements in Russia at a sufficient level and avoid shortages.