In the near future, the range of grocery stores may drop sharply. Due to the entry into force of new standards for the maintenance of antibiotics in livestock products, food will be withdrawn from trade networks, commodity producers warned. This is stated in a letter sent by the National Meat Association, Soyuzmoloko, the Association of Retail Companies and other organizations to the member of the board of the Eurasian Economic Commission (ECE), Valery Koreshkov. Since August 14, the ECE has tightened the requirements for the maximum permissible levels of residues of veterinary medicinal products that may be contained in unprocessed animal products. Manufacturers of food ask to postpone the introduction of this rule. The ECE promised that the message will be considered, Vedomosti reports.. Tighter regulations on the content of antibiotics are needed in order to avoid sanctions of the controlling bodies of the EEA countries, the commission explained..

Due to different interpretations, differences arise between countries. And the new regulations establish uniform requirements for the content of more than 70 substances in meat, raw milk, eggs and other raw materials. Manufacturers have been trying for six months to move the introduction of the new rules. They can create difficulties for producers: the content of harmful substances will have to be controlled by expensive methods. In factories, there may simply not be competent staff or the right equipment. Antibiotics when processing meat or milk are not used, but the raw materials are just checked for their presence, they say in Soyuzmolok. If earlier control was carried out on six substances (such were the requirements of the Customs Union), now the list has grown almost 12 times. The National Meat Association is talking about the late introduction of new norms. After all, Russia has not yet developed methods for their rapid assessment, there are no clinical trials of the timing of withdrawal of these substances from the body of animals. In addition, during processing, the concentration of the substance may be higher than in the raw material, and when controlling the finished product by the same method, an antibiotic will be detected. As a result, the lot will be withdrawn, and the manufacturer will suffer losses. The "offenders" Rosselkhoznadzor will be able to withdraw the declaration of conformity. And then the company will not be able to produce a certain type of product until the product is completely cleared of antibiotics. Due to the content of medicines in meat and dairy products, the department last year withdrew 800 declarations (30 times more than in 2016).

And with the introduction of new rules under the threat of suspension will be in general all producers of livestock products. This will lead to a food deficit, the channel 360. There are no scientific data on the transition of medicinal products from raw materials to finished products, the authors of the letter. Before making such a list mandatory, you need to develop rapid analysis methods or conduct clinical trials for new groups of antibiotics. Otherwise, cattle breeders will have to abandon the treatment of animals with the use of medicines.