Agriculture Ministry Tightens Rules for Handling Ukrainian Grain (2)

Bratislava, April 13 (TASR) - As a result of the unsatisfactory results of an analysis of 1,500 tonnes of wheat from Ukraine, which has been seized by the State Veterinary and Food Administration (SVPS) in a mill in Kolarovo (Nitra region), the Agriculture Ministry is introducing a regulation banning its processing and inclusion in the food and feed chain, the ministry announced on Thursday. The regulation imposes a strict ban on processing and putting on the market already stocked Ukrainian grain and flour made from it. The presence of a pesticide, which is not permitted in the European Union (EU) and has a negative impact on human health, has been confirmed in the checked sample. In this situation, the ministry does not recommend the import of any Ukrainian grain or products from it. The ministry announced that, together with its subordinate organisations, it will ensure taking of samples from all Ukrainian grain and flour that have already been stocked in Slovakia. At the same time, SVPS will inform all EU member states through the RASFF (the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed) about a batch that fails to meet the health requirements. "Agriculture Minister Samuel Vlcan will inform about the situation Ukrainian Ambassador to Slovakia Myroslav Kastran, as well as agriculture ministers of the V4 (the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia) countries, Romania and Bulgaria at a meeting dedicated to protecting the market against the import of cheap commodities from Ukraine, due to be held on Friday (April 14)," said the ministry. ko/mcs