Agriculture, EU – Baltic States, Foodstuff, Latvia, Ukraine

Citing results of inspections carried out by the Food and Veterinary Service, representatives of the Agriculture Ministry indicated that in several cases inspectors have found salmonella contamination in eggs and egg products delivered from Ukraine.

On Thursday, August 8, Agriculture Minister Kaspars Gerhards (National Alliance) sent the EU commissioner for health and food safety a letter calling on the European Commission to act and take all the necessary measures to protect consumers against the risk of getting infected with salmonella bacteria.

“The EU is a single market, so the rules have to be the same for all egg producers, including from non-EU countries that have trade agreements with the EU. Regardless of the country where it is made the product has to meet all quality and especially safety standards. The situation where Ukrainian egg producers put the health of residents of Latvia and other countries at risk with their products must not be permitted. Since the inspections carried out in Latvia have revealed serious food safety violations, we have called on the European Commission to take the necessary measures to prevent dangerous food from being produced and ending up in the EU market and people’s food baskets,” said Gerhards.

Latvian egg producing companies have previously called on the Food and Veterinary Service and other authorities to check eggs and egg products that are imported from Ukraine very carefully, claiming salmonella contamination in some egg white products of Ukrainian origin. Responding to these allegations, Ovostar Europe, a company of the Ukrainian-Latvian Ovostar Union investor group which distributes Ovostar products in the EU and the Middle East, complained to law enforcement authorities about what it claims to be false information about the allegedly low quality of Ukrainian egg products and calls to consumers not to buy products from this country.