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Please note that animal products are prohibited in personal luggage

2019 m. July 16 d.

The State Food and Veterinary Service points out that in order to prevent contagious animal diseases, especially African swine fever, people coming from outside the European Union are prohibited from carrying meat, milk and milk products in their personal luggage. IT IS PROHIBITED TO CARRY: - meat and meat products (lard, fresh or processed meat, including poultry, fats, sausages, canned meat, pasta stuffed with meat, sauces or soups with meat, etc.); - milk and milk products (milk, condensed milk, milk powder, sour cream, curd, kefir, cheese, butter, yoghurt, milk ice cream, etc.); - pet food, containing meat and / or dairy products (dog and cat food, canned food, snacks for dogs, etc.).

Transportation of pet animals for commercial purposes

2019 m. July 11 d.

Every year, the State Food and Veterinary Service (SFVS) receives the notifications from the competent authorities of other European Union (EU) countries about pet animals that are not properly transported for trade purposes. In order to sell animal pets to the residents of other EU countries, they must be microchipped, vaccinated against rabies (according to the age), in addition, each animal must have a passport, and the carrier must have a certificate of internal trade, issued by the specialists of territorial SFVSs. “Please note that entrusting the animal pets to be transported by other people for commercial purposes can only be done after a careful assessment of whether they have the necessary qualifications and permits. When pets are transported by the unqualified people, i.e. these animals are transported in crammed, tight transport cages, where there is not enough space to move freely, animals are left in cages for more than 24 hours, inadequately fed and watered. Animal transporters must hold permits for animal transportation and vehicle certificates issued by the SFVS or other EU authorities”, - emphasises Gintarė Juozėnienė, Senior Veterinarian of the Animal Health and Welfare Department (SFVS). According to the specialist, if the animal was transported without a health assessment prior to the trip and there is no documentary evidence for that, border service officials of the countries to which the animal is being transported may consider such circumstances as a potential risk for the appearance of agents for contagious animal diseases. Therefore, pets can even be confiscated and for the breeders and transporters, who are breaking the laws, administrative sanctions applied. “Animal owners must plan their trips responsibly. If they do not have the opportunity to accompany the animals themselves, they should choose reliable carriers and make sure that pets travel safely and comfortably. In case of any uncertainties or questions, the specialists of the territorial units of our service can always give some advice or provide additional information”, - says G. Juozėnienė.

For the first time the World Food Safety Day was celebrated on 7 th of June

2019 m. June 03 d.

Lithuanians pay a lot of attention and are personally interested in food safety - two in 5 Lithuanians of emphasize that food safety is one of the most important criteria when choosing which products to buy. For most people in Lithuania, as well as for most EU citizens, several criteria are important when it comes to food choice - first of all price, taste, country of origin of food and, of course, food safety. Such insights are published by EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) in the latest Eurobarometer survey, published on the first ever World Food Safety Day. World Food Safety Day gives „consumers, producers and governments a chance to focus on an issue that is often taken for granted“ according to the United Nations. The Eurobarometer survey results suggest that almost 55% of the Europeans and about 52% of Lithuanians have a high level of awareness of food safety topics, and nearly two-thirds of consumers have changed their eating habits for at least some time because of food safety information. A survey on food safety issues in EU was carried out almost after decade and has highlighted a wide range of food safety issues that are important to EU citizens. Europeans are most concerned about the misuse of antibiotics, hormones or steroids in livestock farming (44%), pesticide residues in food (39%) or use of food additives (36%). The majority of Lithuanians are most concern about the improper use of various food additives (preservatives, colorings, flavor enhancers, etc.) (77%), the use of genetically modified ingredients in food and drinks (70%); the influence of animal diseases on food safety (73%). Over 60% of Lithuanian respondents also identified food safety issues such as residues of antibiotics, hormonal substances, pesticides or environmental contaminants in food, poor food hygiene, bacterial contamination of food, or food or beverages causing allergic reactions. In Europe, scientists (82% in the EU, 84% in the LT), consumer organizations (79% in the EU, 66% in the LT) and local farmers (64-69%) gain the highest levels of trust among Europeans when it comes to information on food risks. Europeans and Lithuanians also rely on EU and national authorities (approx. 50-60%). TV and the Internet, with the exception of social media, have been identified by most EU citizens as the main source of information on food safety. However, many rely on information read in newspapers or magazines, or on knowledge heard from family members, friends or neighbors. Based on information of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

The State Food and Veterinary Service complies with the requirements of LST EN ISO / IEC 17020: 2012

2019 m. April 11 d.

The State Food and Veterinary Service (SFVS) has received an official approval that it meets the requirements of International standard LST EN ISO / IEC 17020:2012 as a Type A inspection body, subjected to the highest standards of impartiality. SFVS has been accredited according to the requirements of the international quality management standard since 2006. The updated certificate has been issued by the National Accreditation Bureau for the new 5-year accreditation period. The team of experts of National Accreditation Bureau in SFVS has conducted a number of audits of compliance in order to assess the procedures of official control of animal and non-animal origin food production, retail and catering, procedures of official control of import, export or transit, procedures of official control of animal health and welfare. Based on the information gathered during these audits, the updated accreditation certificate has been issued both for the central SFVS, 10 regional divisions and border inspection posts.

The Twinning Project in Moldova has been finalised

2019 m. March 15 d.

On 14 March, a closing meeting of the EU Twinning Project “Support to the National Food Safety Agency of the Republic of Moldova“ took place in Chisinau (the Republic of Moldova). This 27-month project was run by the State Food and Veterinary Service of the Republic of Lithuania (SFVS) jointly with junior partners from Latvia and Sweden. At the time of the Project, all the planned tasks were implemented – 20 national legal acts in the area of animal health and welfare, food safety were drafted in accordance with EU requirements, as well as more than 30 standard procedures and checklists, animal disease surveillance programmes, emergency plans. 6 study visits to Lithuania and Latvia for specialists from Moldova, 14 seminars for more than six hundred participants, 10 training events with participation of 120 persons were arranged under the project. At the official event, welcoming speeches were given by the Ambassador of the European Union to Moldova Peter Michalko, Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania to Moldova Kęstutis Kudzmanas, Director of the SFVS Darius Remeika, Deputy Director General of the National Food Safety Agency of the Republic of Moldova (ANSA) Ion Toma, State Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment of Moldova Veaceslav Cernat, Director of Milk and Dairy Product Association in Moldova Carolina Linte, etc. Ion Toma, Deputy Director General of ANSA expressed his satisfaction with the project, the professionalism of experts and their support in practice. He also noted that there was still a lot of work pending and one more project would be necessary in the future. The Ambassador Kęstutis Kudzmanas pointed out that the Euro-integration aspirations of Moldova were consistently supported by Lithuania whereas the future progress of this country would depend on the course of the implementation of reforms and their results. There is also intensive cooperation in Moldova under the Lithuanian Development Cooperation Programme. This year alone, about 20 bilateral development cooperation projects are planned. “We hope that this project will help ANSA to implement their plans in the areas of food safety and veterinary medicine in line with EU requirements, which will lead to opening the EU market to Moldovan products. In the process of the implementation of the Project we not only provided support but also exchanged experience with colleagues. The project helped all of us to develop personally and improve our competencies, whereas the cooperation with ANSA will not stop, it will further continue under the Development Cooperation Programme on the bilateral basis”, – commented Director of the SFVS Darius Remeika. At the meeting in Chisinau, the participants of the project expressed their satisfaction with its successful implementation. Specialists from Moldova gave a very good assessment to the expertise of the specialists and their benevolence in sharing this expertise. ANSA specialists expressed their expectations that the successful cooperation in the fields of food safety, veterinary medicine and phytosanitary activities would continue.

Events

2015 y. March 06 d.

Events

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State food and veterinary service
State budgetary institution The Register of Legal Entities
code: 188601279

Address: Siesikų str. 19,
07170 Vilnius Lithuania
Tel. +370 5 240 4361
E-mail: info@vmvt.lt

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