Russia adopts food quality improvement strategy

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree approving a food quality improvement strategy to be implemented by 2030, the government said Monday.

"In recent years, our people have become much more attentive to the issue and everyone is trying to buy quality foodstuffs, preferably Russian-made and fresh, and those produced with the right technologies," Medvedev said in an official statement.

The purpose of the strategy is to ensure food quality, to promote high-quality food products, and to ensure consumer rights in this regard, the statement said.

The strategy lays out 12 tasks, including improving the regulatory base in the field of food quality, quality monitoring of foods, establishing a quality management system for food production, and updating the requirements for food additives, according to the statement.

To implement these tasks, a detailed plan will be prepared with specific deadlines and responsible agencies, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said.

Several senior officials said Russia's ban on imports of various foodstuffs, imposed in response to economic sanctions by Western countries over the Ukraine crisis, has stimulated the development of domestic production.

However, the Russian agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor and health authority Rospotrebnadzor have reported multiple violations of quality and security demands in the process of production, storage and sale of domestic foodstuffs. Endi