MINSK, 17 June (BelTA) – The work to integrate Belarusian and Russian veterinary information systems will be finished at the end of Q3 2019. Russian Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev made the statement as he met with Belarusian Agriculture and Food Minister Anatoly Khotko on 17 June, BelTA has learned.
Dmitry Patrushev said: “In order to unify requirements for veterinary control and oversight, [the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance of Russia] Rosselkhoznadzor and the Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry are finishing work to integrate the Belarusian national tracking information system and the Russian system Mercury. Taking into account the need for final touches, the integrated system is supposed to be commissioned at the end of Q3 2019.”
In his words, the work proceeds on schedule, no deviations are expected to happen.
The meeting also touched upon the targeted volume of mutual trade in agricultural products. Anatoly Khotko spoke in favor of paying more attention to the balance of production and using the possibilities inherent in mutual trade in full. “I believe we could better use the resource bases of the two countries,” he stressed.
Anatoly Khotko also suggested discussing the possibility of getting Rosselkhoznadzor to make decisions on bilateral cooperation faster. Dmitry Patrushev agreed that such a dialogue is necessary. On the whole, he believes that there are no serious problems in Belarus-Russia cooperation in agrarian sphere. Mutual trade is on the rise. “The positive agenda is larger than it was before,” he remarked.
