As of Friday, April 1, meat and products containing at least 50 percent of meat of domestic origin in all stores in Serbia will bear the label “Made in Serbia”, announced today the head of the Department for Food Labeling, Agricultural Product Quality Schemes and Organic Production at the Ministry of Agriculture. water management and forestry Branislav Raketić.
“One of the most important information for consumers, in addition to the price and shelf life, is information on origin. “We have devised the simplest way to mark it, without changing the packaging, and to know again that it is a product in accordance with the regulations,” Raketic told Tanjug today.
He stated that the obligation of the producer of meat and meat products is to submit a statement to the seller guaranteeing that his product complies with the regulations and that it can be marked with the graphic mark “Made in Serbia”, and that the seller must clearly state that. they sell these products in his facility or in the display cases where they are displayed.
Raketic said that the Ministry has resolved all doubts in live communication with producers and traders in recent days, so this decision can be applied on the first day of April.
When asked how consumers will be sure that the meat is from domestic farms, Raketic answered that it is not difficult.
“Apart from the producer’s guarantee that the meat is domestic, it will be controlled by the Veterinary Administration, ie the veterinary inspection, which can easily trace the origin of products based on a work order in the meat industry, and the orders state the origin of raw materials. “I think that our producers must be aware that this statement is provable and that it will be subject to control,” Raketic said.
He emphasized that this decision should help not only consumers, but also domestic producers of animal feed, meat, meat products and the slaughter industry.
“Honestly, I think that this newspaper will really help highlight domestic production, because I think it has all the necessary qualities, which should be highlighted to consumers in a clear and visible way,” Raketic emphasized.
He reminded that Serbia has a law against genetically modified organisms (GMOs), which explicitly prohibits the trade in animal feed containing GMOs, as well as such meat and food for humans.
“Our producers adhere to that, which is very important for end consumers. Secondly, the meat, whether fresh or processed, did not cover ‘many kilometers’, so that is one piece of information that is very important “, stated Raketić.
He claims that these novelties will not in any way affect the growth of prices of meat and processed products, because marking does not cause any additional costs in the production process, but will only affect the better sale of such foods.
Raketic points out that the fact that it is domestic meat of good quality should not affect the price of such food, following the example of organic products.
“Here we want to emphasize what is ours, because I think we can be proud of that and we must work on raising local patriotism, to buy goods of domestic origin. This is very pronounced in the EU members in Italy and France, so why not in our country as well. To give preference to domestic products “,Raketic concluded, Politika writes.
