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Mandatory marking of pet animals will allow to fight against the shadow and to control the breeders more effectively

2021 m. March 31 d.

From 1 May 2021, in Lithuanian, a mandatory marking (cats, dogs and ferrets) of pet animals with subcutaneous microchips and their registration in the Register of Pet Animals will be legalised by the Seimas decision as well as agreed upon the ban on the sale of pet animals under the outdoor conditions and in the marketplaces. For the prevention of infectious diseases, the animal marking and its registration is one of the essential steps that must be taken once in a lifetime. “This decision of the Seimas is a strong change and a significant impulse to improve the general animal welfare situation in the country. The State Food and Veterinary Service (SFVS) was always for the overall pet marking, which is applied in most European Union countries. We see many advantages in that, such as the traceability of animals and their history of “travel”, the prevention of vaccinated against rabies, which is an incurable contagious disease for both humans and animals, the reduction of the number of ownless pet animals, the faster return of lost pet animals to their owners, the increasing responsibility of the owners of pet animals and, certainly, a more effective control of breeding and trade”, – commented Darius Remeika, the Director of the SFVS. It is important to mention that the mandatory marking of pet animals in Lithuania was introduced from the beginning of 2016, but was soon withdrawn. The mandatory marking and registration in the Register of Pet Animals was left only for the animals leaving the country and entering Lithuania. Currently, the mandatory marking is also required when transferring an animal to another owner. In accordance with the new procedure, cats, dogs and ferrets born after the entry into force of this requirement will have to be marked and registered in the Register of Pet Animals within 4 months of their birth, but not later than the transfer of these animals to another owner or keeper. Prior to the entry into force of this provision, those non-microchipped animals will have to be marked and registered in the Register of Pet Animals within one year, by 1 May 2022, but not later than the transfer of them to another owner or keeper. Pet animals used for the commercial breeding and born before the coming into force of amendments to the law, will be required to be microchipped and registered in the Register of Pet Animals by 1 September 2021. Not only veterinarians will be able to mark the pet animals and provide the data to the Register of Pet Animals as it has been decided to increase the number of markers as well. This will also be possible for those who have completed special trainings. The responsibility for the microchipping and registration of such animals in the Register of Pet Animals lies with the keeper or owner. At present, according to the SFVS data, the total number of pet animals (dogs, cats, ferrets) marked in the country and registered in the Register of Pet Animals is almost 156 thousand, of which almost 108 thousand are dogs and 47 thousand are cats.

EU helps BiH food safety system advance in European Standards

2021 m. March 26 d.

The progress of the European Union (EU) funded twinning project "EU support to capacity building and gradual Union acquis alignment in the food safety sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina" was discussed at the 2nd meeting of the Steering Committee on 16th of March 2021. Team of experts from Lithuania, Italy and Hungary, although remotely due to the current Covid situation, met their colleagues in Bosnia and Hercegovina to discuss the activities performed and the achievements reached during the first half-year of the project. During this period, the joint expert groups were able to assess a large number of legislative acts in BiH and make recommendations on how to align it with the Union acquis. In this way, a basis for further development of the project activities, helping the competent authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina to develop an effective food safety system, was provided. The project will follow up on the findings of various gap analyses carried out, further work on legislative improvements and risk assessment plans together with Beneficiary institutions and provide for trainings, like those for official inspectors and food business operators etc. in the next period. The Twinning project is funded by the European Union in the amount of 1,5 million EUR and it is implemented by a consortium led by Lithuania, with their partners from Italy and Hungary. The beneficiary country is represented by the BIH Food Safety Agency, in cooperation with the competent authorities of the Federation of BiH and Republika Srpska, and Brčko District of BiH. The project provides for a review of Bosnia and Herzegovina's food safety legislation and its gradual alignment with the EU acquis, strengthening the institutional capacity of national competent authorities to carry out official food safety controls and enhancing the system for the approval of national products as protected designations of origin, products with protected geographical indications or traditional specialities guaranteed. The project lasts for three years (2020-2023).

A new initiative in the process of reducing food waste

2021 m. January 16 d.

From now on, food producers and traders will be able to supply frozen fresh packed meat to charity canteens. On 15 January, amendments to legal acts providing for a possibility to freeze fresh packed meat of different kinds with expiry dates coming to an end this way ensuring conditions for extending the date of durability for food intended for charity or support in order to increase the sustainability in the food supply chain. These amendments to legal acts were initiated by the State Food and Veterinary Service (SFVS) to contribute to the common goal of the EU Member States to reduce the extent of food waste as well as having regard to objectives of the Farm to Fork Strategy of the European Commission and goals of the European Green Deal. Food is wasted or thrown out all over the food supply chain, therefore, all the EU Member States are seeking to reduce the food waste per capita on the retail and consumer levels by 2030. The SFVS drafted amendments to the Procedure for Handling Food Intended for Charity or Support, which provide for the possibility to freeze and supply to charity organisations for processing at charity canteens packed fresh meat of different kinds (poultry meat, pigmeat, beef, etc.) with the expiry date coming to an end, which is labelled with the indication of “Use by date...”. It should be noted that relevant requirements apply to the freezing process of food, i. e. fresh meat. They apply both to those establishments, which are going to supply this production for charity or support purposes, and to those who are going to receive it. One of the major conditions is that fresh meat products intended for charity or support will need to be adequately labelled to ensure the safety and health of consumers. For example, based on the provided recommendations, food products will have to be frozen not later than 12 or 24 hours accordingly before the expiry of the indicated date of durability “Use by date...”. Those recommendations also explain the procedure for the extension of the date of durability for the frozen food products. The plan is, in view of the experience gained, to consider a possibility to allow freezing a broader range of foods, for example, different meat products, as well as milk, confectionary products, different vegetables or fruits, etc., in the near future to help to save food.

In Lithuania, the movement of some wild boars is observed with the use of GPS transmitters

2021 m. January 15 d.

This is the third year that the State Food and Veterinary Service (SFVS) has participated in the international project “Defend”, which is based on the partnership of international scientific, industrial and governmental organisations. Industries are seeking to find new ways and methods for controlling African swine fever (ASF), to acquire new knowledge of the course of this disease and possible eradication methods. Lithuania is taking part in the project activities related to ASF prevention, management and control at pig production farms as well as in the wildlife, i. e. among wild boars. The project seeks to better understand properties of the ASF virus and ways of spreading among wild boars, to determine the distances at which the infection can be transmitted to other wild boars in a natural way, to record the movement of wild boars on the 24-hour basis, the distances that are covered by those animals in infected areas, and what are the probabilities of contacts between different wild boar groups in terms of transmitting the virus. For this purpose, wild boars in ASF infected areas from different age groups and of different sex have to be caught and marked with the use of special collars containing Global Positioning System (GPS) transmitters. With the help of GPS, data on the movement of wild boars within units of hunting areas in different seasons will be systematised, information on the living areas of wild boars and the range of their movement will be collected. Those tasks are planed to be accomplished in Lithuania by the end of 2021. To achieve that purpose, last year, specialists of the SFVS, having received consent from users of the hunting areas and a permission of the Environmental Protection Agency, installed 9 live catch traps for wild boars in Kaunas, Kaišiadorys, Trakai and Vilnius district municipalities, in a unit of Karalgiris professional hunting areas, units of the hunting areas of Žiežmariai hunting club, Skala hunting club, Trakai regional division of the State Forest Enterprise and Jovariškės hunting club “Elnias”. In the above areas, wild boars were lured in order to catch and mark them. In 2020, 22 wild boars were caught (20 of them were marked with yellow ear tags containing the phone number, which had to be called by the hunter who had hunted such a wild boar, to report the exact coordinates where the wild boar was hunted, and with special collars for wild boars with GPS transmitters). It should be noted that the caught wild boars were partly anesthetized to avoid their stress or injury at the time of marking. Collars with GPS transmitters of different producers (Spanish, German and Lithuanian) transmitting information on the location of the wild boars up to 48 times per day were used for marking wild boars. In the units of hunting areas where wild boars were caught, marked and set free again, no hunting restriction actions were applied. Out of the 20 marked wild boars (ten females and ten males) 2 wild boars have already been found dead. Tests of the carrions did not show that the animals had died from ASF, however, they failed to identify the exact cause of the deaths. One of the wild boars was found shot (as a result of likely poaching), 3 have been hunted, 2 dropped their collars, whereas collars of 5 other wild boars no longer transmit any signals most likely because of some technical problems in transmitters or because of large amounts of data recorded in the inner memory of the transmitters, therefore, the wild boars were asked to be hunted to ascertain that the information, which can be used for further analysis of data on wild boar movement, is being recorded by the transmitters. In 2021, 10 more wild boars are planned to be additionally marked both with ear tags and collars with GPS transmitters. This quantity would be sufficient for data analysis and for obtaining certain results and making conclusions. Therefore, the SFVS would like to address hunters in Lithuania with a request to communicate information by the phone, which is indicated on the ear tag, in case a marked wild boar is hunted, and to take off the collar with a GPS transmitter carefully and deliver it to the nearest territorial unit of the SFVS.

Season’s greetings

2020 m. December 23 d.

Warmest greetings for the Christmas season and the New Year 2021. May the upcoming year be a year of new opportunities and successful co-operation, rich in achievements and filled with joy and happiness. Best regards Darius Remeika Director of the State Food and Veterinary Service of the Republic of Lithuania

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