Key dairy issues discussed at the industry congress

As part of Prodexpo 2023, the 21st Russian Congress of Milk Producers and Processors took place at Expocentre Fairgrounds. It was organised by the Russian Union of Dairy Enterprises. 

The event's moderator, Lyudmila Manitskaya, Chair of the Council and Director of the Russian Union of Dairy Enterprises, said that the congress was taking place at a special time: "New large-scale challenges have emerged that we have to overcome today. The Union has gone into special mode, promptly restructuring its work in order to support our dairy sector as effectively as possible".

The importance of villages in dairy farming was mentioned at the congress. "Without the village, we have nothing to hold our spatial ties, our vast territories," said Vladimir Kashin, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Agrarian Issues. In addition, he said, there is a problem of land desertification and villages, which, as the main source of agricultural industry, continue to degrade. 

Ekaterina Priezzheva, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, drew special attention to the labelling of dairy products. She said that two major sets of amendments to the milk labelling rules were being prepared. A draft decree has been prepared, which will provide additional time for the participants of circulation to eliminate errors. The second voluminous package consists of changes, which concern indication of weight during labelling and a number of other introductions. The Deputy Minister cited the data of the Centre for Development of Advanced Technologies, according to which the turnover of expired dairy products by January 2023 had decreased by 55% in comparison with October 2022. 

Sergey Dankvert, Head of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor), speaking at the congress, stressed that more attention has recently been paid to domestic milk producers and processors. There has been the introduction of electronic certification, which has improved performance in the field of dairy products. It is now possible to analyze the production control of the company. This is a significant moment to eliminate cases of product adulteration. Safety in production is the main thing, said the head of Rosselkhoznadzor. 

The Chairman of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Committee for Development of the Agriculture Industry, Pyotr Chekmarev, emphasised in his speech the close relationship between the Russian Union of Dairy Enterprises and the Chamber. He also stated that the equipment in the industry is 80-90% imported and the technology is imported. These problems should be dealt with carefully, not only subsidies, but also new measures to support Russian producers should be applied. 

Farm modernisation, regional support and development of rural areas are now important tasks. First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Agrarian and Food Policy and Environmental Management Sergey Mitin, General Director of Head Centre for Farm Animal Reproduction Maksim Maksimchuk, Head of Milk Product Group at the Centre for Advanced Technologies Development Yulia Kuzmina, Member of the Committee on Agrarian Issues and Chairman of the Subcommittee for Scientific and Technical Policy, Digitalisation, Epidemiological Wellbeing, Organic and Ecological Agriculture Sergey Lisovsky. 

Press Service, EXPOCENTRE AO