Azerbaijan suspends import of animal-based products from more countries
By Ayya Lmahamad
Azerbaijan’s Food and Safety Agency has suspended import of all types of cattle and small ruminants and their genetic materials from Germany’s Rhineland-Palatinate federal state and Belgian Luxembourg province and all types of live birds and poultry products from the French Grand Est province.
The ban is in line with the WHO warning against infectious animal diseases that may enter country’s territory from other countries.
According to WHO, a highly pathogenic disease “bird flu” has been reported in the French Grand Est province and a bluetongue disease in Germany’s Rhineland-Palatinate federal state and Belgian Luxembourg province.
Meanwhile, an appeal has been made to Azerbaijan’s State Customs Committee to take relevant measures to strengthen control over vehicles arriving and passing through Azerbaijan from Belgium, Germany and France.
Earlier, the Agency imposed a temporary ban on the import of poultry from some territories of Bulgaria, Korea, Ukraine, Germany, Northern Ireland, Poland, Romania, Iran, Sweden, Vietnam, Iraq, India and Wales into Azerbaijan after the World Organization for Animal Health’s warning.
The Azerbaijani Food Safety Agency was established in 2017 and is a central executive authority, which oversees the regulation of food safety standards, risk assessment, official registration of food products and their packaging materials, issue of food safety certificates to exported food products. It is also responsible for state control over food safety and protection of rights of food product consumers at all stages of the food supply chain, including food production, supply, packaging, storage, transportation and trading, use in catering and service sector, utilization and disposal as well as implementation and regulation of state policy in the aforementioned areas.
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Ayya Lmahamad is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AyyaLmahamad
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