Countries in Southeast Europe agreed that the basis for the control of aflatoxin in animal feeds and milk follow the existing limits of the defined regulations of the EU, said the BiH Minister for Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Mirko Šarović to journalists after today’s meeting in Sarajevo with ministers of the relevant institutions for agriculture and food from this region.
It was concluded at the meeting that a regional expert group be established where contact persons would be nominated with a mandate to discuss the problems tied to mycotoxins, and that a detailed system of communication and exchange of information between relevant institutions of countries in the region be established.
“It was also concluded that it is necessary to emphasize the importance of taking preventative measures for food producers and processors, including the introduction and application of good agriculture, sanitary, veterinary and manufacturing practices, including HACCP (integrated system of control of food security in all phases of its production and distribution) and to strengthen capacity building by: introducing regular trainings at levels of government officials, inspectors, laboratory staff, producers and processors, including farmers, and especially in the prevention and sampling procedures’’, said Šarović.
Countries attending the meeting (BiH, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Albania) will examine the possibility of using a regional reference laboratory for the analysis of mycotoxins in food and animal feed, and they agreed to standardize procedures for the collection of food samples and animal feed in accordance with EU legislation.
“We agreed to invest additional efforts to secure additional forms of support for the production of milk in order to enable the purchase of healthy food for cattle and thus maintain production and quality of milk at a level it was before the appearance of aflatoxin, and to establish a protocol that would determine how to deal with contaminated animal feed that would be harmonized with EU standards’’, said Šarović.
He added that support to the meeting was provided by veterinary services, services for food security and the permanent working group for regional rural development from Southeast Europe.
The Croatian Minister of Agriculture Tihomir Jakovina said that the Institute of Public Health “Dr. Andrija Štampar” from Zagreb fulfills the most stringent standards with regards to the compliance of Croatia with EU standards, and that he offered to colleagues in the region that this institute be the reference laboratory for the analysis of mycotoxins.
The State Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture of Serbia Danilo Golubović explained that the allowed level of aflatoxin in Serbia returned back 0,5 and that after the adoption of new legislation this value would be reduced to 0,05, but that until then milk could be imported to Serbia only with a level of 0,05.
It was announced that the next meeting of this and similar issues would be held in a few weeks in Croatia.
