Negotiations between Rosselkhoznadzor and Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan

The negotiations between the Rosselkhoznadzor and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan were held in the form of a conference call on the 26th of June, 2017. The Russian side was represented by Deputy Heads of the Rosselkhoznadzor Julia Shvabauskene and Konstantin Savenkov, the Kazakh side was represented by Vice Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Gulmira Isayeva.

The sides discussed process of implementing the agreements achieved by the two agencies at the meeting held on the 9th of June, 2017 between Head of the Rosselkhoznadzor Sergey Dankvert and Vice Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan Gulmira Isayeva.

In particular, the sides confirmed their intention to start implementation of the pilot project on joint raids along the Southern-Urals border between the two countries (in the Chelyabinsk and Orenburg Oblasts). At the meeting held on the 23d of June, 2017 in Chelyabinsk between the Rosselkhoznadzor and the veterinary and phytosanitary services of Kazakhstan that was devoted to the control of traceability of animal and plant products, the two sides agreed on the work of these mobile groups. The project implementation will start immediately after the two sides exchange essential technical information on the group participants from both sides and after the working schedule is made up. Mrs. Isayeva took the initiative in arranging equivalent control over products imported from Russia to Kazakhstan. Therefore, the Rosselkhoznadzor representatives recalled that the currently used control is aimed at curbing import of products banned in Russia through the territory of Kazakhstan.

Alongside with the project implementation, a mechanism is to be developed to register veterinary certificates at the point of destination to show that they are valid only for the consignment they are attached to and cannot be used for other purposes.

The sides also discussed national and supernational legal basis regulating destruction and disposal of products transported without accompanying documents. It was noted that the indicated procedures require additional harmonization at the EAEU level. Integration of the information systems in the field of veterinary medicine and plant quarantine is a key issue in cooperation between the two sides ensuring traceability of animal and plant products. In order to ensure simultaneous integration of the information systems in the veterinary field the sides agreed to arrange consultations for IT-experts. In order to facilitate the integration process to exchange data on phytosanitary certificates Mrs. Isayeva put forward a proposal to develop a road map. The Rosselkhoznadzor supported the initiative.

During the negotiations the sides agreed to have another consultation on the 27th of June, 2017.