Belarusian meat, dairy companies to step up presence in UAE in March

MINSK, 24 February (BelTA) – A number of Belarusian meat and dairy companies may be able to get access to the market of the United Arab Emirates in March, BelTA learned from Alexei Bogdanov, Head of the Central Office for Foreign Economic Activities of the Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry.

According to the source, on 24 February a delegation of the Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry returned from Dubai where the international food expo Gulfood was taking place. “During the event we held a number of meetings, including with a UAE deputy minister for climate change and environmental protection. We have agreed that he will lead a delegation of strategic investors and businessmen specializing in agriculture, who are expected to visit Belarus in late March 2016. Apart from that, the delegation will include veterinary inspectors as part of the fulfillment of the memorandum signed by the two agricultural ministries the day before,” noted Alexei Bogdanov.

The official explained that the UAE veterinary inspectors will certify Belarusian meat and dairy companies for deliveries to the UAE market. “The companies, which are certified for deliveries to the European Union, will be permitted to sell their merchandise to the UAE by default. The other companies will be audited, samples will be tested. If the test results are good, they will be allowed to export their products to the UAE,” he said.

BelTA reported earlier that four Belarusian dairy companies can sell their products to Europe. The number includes Savushkin Product, the Verkhnedvinsk butter and cheese factory, the Bereza cheese factory, and the Kopyl branch of the Slutsk cheese factory. The enterprises that make meat products do not sell them to the European Union for now.

A collective booth of Belarusian dairy industry enterprises has been represented for the first time ever during the food expo Gulfood in Dubai. During the expo Belarus was represented by the companies Savushkin Product and Molochny Mir as well as the tinned dairy products factories from Lida and Glubokoye. In 2015 Savushkin Product shipped over $150,000 worth of merchandise to the UAE.

Scheduled for 21-25 February, Gulfood has gathered over 5,000 exhibitors from 120 countries. The expo features national booths of Australia, Austria, Belgium, the UK, Germany, Greece, Georgia, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Canada, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, the USA, Turkey, Ukraine, France, Czechia, and Japan.

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