MOSCOW: A Russian watchdog says Moscow is considering easing its requirements for supplies of dairy product supplies, mostly hard cheese, from India.
Alexey Alekseenko, an aide to the head of the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor), made the remarks, on Thursday.
Alekseenko was responding to Indian media reports requesting Russia to ease the requirements under a protocol which only allows dairy product imports from large India farms over sanitation and hygiene concerns.
“We do not rule out a possibility of easing the requirements for India if they guarantee the monitoring of products’ quality and health condition of animals,” he said.
The official added that the group was ready to discuss the “monitoring of companies and their products” with India.
Earlier in the week, The Hindu Business Line daily said that New Delhi had refused to sign a protocol comprising 10 conditions with the Russian watchdog over security concerns.
The protocol also bans obtaining milk from sick or quarantined cows for the control and prevention of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), tuberculosis, leukemia, and brucellosis.
Rosselkhoznadzor made a list of Indian companies and individuals with the right to provide supplies, including Parag Milk Foods and Shreiber Dynamix Diaries for hard cheese, after allowing the import of dairy products from India to Russia, in April.
Russia has banned imports of meat and dairy products as well as fruits, vegetables, and fish from Europe, the US, Canada and Australia.
The country is looking for new trade partners for food imports amid tensions with the West which has imposed a series of sanctions on Moscow over the Ukraine crisis, which started last year.
