Report from the study tour to Austria on flexibility ... Study tour... · out ante-mortem and post...

FAO-EBRD Project: “Upgrade of Meat Quality Standards in Montenegro and Exchange of Lessons Learned in

the Western Balkans’’

Report from the study tour to Austria on flexibility provisions in food

safety for traditional products and small producers

21 - 26 February 2016

In the period from 21 to 26 February, Montenegrin delegation (representatives of the MARD,

Veterinary Directorate, Livestock Extension Service, traditional food producers) and the

representatives of FAO have visited Austria to meet with Austrian authorities and meat producers

and processors. This study tour visit was part of the activities conducted within the frame of the

project “Upgrade of Meat Quality Standards in Montenegro & Exchange of Lessons in Western

Balkans” that provides support for an efficient and integrated food production chain in Montenegro,

by improving quality and safety in the meat production and processing sector. The project is

implemented through the cooperation between the European Bank for Reconstruction and

Development (EBRD), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UN FAO) and

the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Montenegro (MARD).

The list of participants is given in Annex 1.



Day I- Monday, 22nd of February

At the beginning of the working day a delegation from Montenegro with representatives of FAO visited the Provincial Government of Styria, Veterinary Directorate. On this occasion, the participants were welcomed by Dr. Peter Wagner (Director of the Veterinary Department of the Government of Styria) and Dr. Harald Foetsch (Deputy Director).

Figure 1. Visit to the Veterinary Directorate of Styria

Mr. Dr. Peter Wagner in his speech pointed out that Austria has nine provinces, of which the most

important is Styria. Styria is also one of the three provinces in which 90 % of the total meat

production in Austria is held. It stretches over 16,400 km2 and has 1.2 million inhabitants. The

northern part of the province is spread over mountain ranges, while the southern plains are

covered with pastures. Therefore, in the north breeding of cattle and sheep prevails, while in the

southern part the breeding of pigs and cattle is predominant. This is supported by the fact that in

the southern part of the province significant quantities of corn used for animal feed are produced.

The slaughterhouses of the greater capacity are located in the southern part of the province, where

the population is also engaged in the production of wine, fruit, vegetables and pumpkins for the

production of the famous pumpkin seed oil that is one of the most important products of the region.

The province has a total of 24,498 registered agricultural households engaged in animal breeding.

The average number of animals per household is relatively small, meaning 80 heads of pigs and 25

heads of cattle. There are in total 426 veterinarians in the field, 173 veterinary inspectors and 45

veterinary officers. In total 735 slaughterhouses of smaller capacity is registered and these are

subjected to the provisions of the flexibility in the area of food safety. These are selling their

products on the local market. The concept of local market relates to the whole territory of Austria.

Mr. Wagner also pointed out that trade on the local market grows as additional incentives for

farmers to continue with this kind of production.

Mr. Dr. Harald Foetschl acquainted the participants with the activities of the Veterinary Directorate in Styria, forms of control carried out with the aim of ensuring the production of health safe animal



products, including control of animal welfare, hygiene, meat production and processing, monitoring of residues of veterinary drugs, etc. Mr. Foetschl dedicated special attention, during his presentation, to explaining the legal framework for the implementation of measures of flexibility concerning: • Groups of products with traditional characteristics, • Continuous application of traditional methods of production, • Production in areas with geographical constrains. Whereby the prescribed provisions: • Mostly related to the lower production volume, • Must be applied with procedures based on the HACCP system, • Must relate to the effective implementation of Regulation 2073/2005 and • Must ensure the implementation of official controls. According to the definition FLEXIBILITY means: flexible interpretation and implementation of the

provisions of the hygiene package in specific types of production (above stated), and in accordance

with the specific circumstances and the structure of food business operators. Basic principles for

the application of the provisions of flexibility are subsidiarity (the Member States themselves are

best placed to find a solution with respect to the specific situation on the ground) and

transparency (each draft of such measures must be submitted to the Commission and other

Member states).

Mr. Harald also pointed out the importance of a GUIDE FOR FLEXIBILITY, a document that has

greatly facilitated the application of the provisions of flexibility. The guide is created in order to

help food business operators and competent authorities for the effective implementation of the

provisions of flexibility, and is made in cooperation with the competent institutions, manufacturers

and other interested parties, while respecting the principles and obligations set forth in the Rules of

flexibility within the framework of the Austrian Law on Food Safety. The guide is available in

German language.

Facilities that are subjected to the provisions of flexibility must be registered and approved. Their

capacity is limited to rather small amounts (production capacity of 250 tons of products per annum

or 1000 LSU, facilities does not need to have separate rooms for washing and disinfecting).

Participants also had the opportunity to visit the laboratory for Trichinella testing of pork meat

where they have learned about the principles of work, both in the field, in terms of sampling, as well

as the procedure and duration of the laboratory analysis. Mr. Dr. Peter Pless, head of the laboratory,

explained the working procedures and the types of analyzes that are performed in the respective

laboratories (testing of milk samples, diseases of domestic animals, residues of antibiotics, testing

for the presence of viruses in cattle, etc.).



Dr. Peter Gumbsh, district veterinarian, gave an overview of the work of veterinary

inspectors in the field. There are 250,000 registered households and 100 approved slaughterhouses

in the Graz surroundings that are subjected to control. Control Plan is enacted at the provincial

level, where control is performed at the slaughterhouses, with authorized veterinarians who carry

out ante-mortem and post -mortem inspections and control of hygiene in the establishments.

According to the plan, in average 20 slaughterhouses are controlled on an annual basis. The average

duration of the single control, depending on the size of the object and the quality of the operations

is approximately 1 to 2 hours. All Results of the work in the field are entered into a single database,

where each of the inspectors enters its findings individually.

Day II- Tuesday, 23rd of February

On the second day, the participants visited a smaller slaughterhouse for pigs with direct

sales on the farm, owned by Mr. Markus Conrad (Konrad Catering GmbH). In average in this

slaughterhouse, 10-20 pigs per week is slaughtered, meaning 400 head per year. Currently the farm

breeds about 220 pigs for fattening. Pigs are directed to the slaughtering when they reach an

average weight of 140 kg. The farm has in addition 65 heads of cattle, and a silo for feed capacity of

500 m3. The farm produces its own feed (owns 32 ha of arable land), with the purchase of smaller

quantities of soy and mineral supplements for animal fattening.

Figure 2. Visit to the pig farm and pig slaughterhouse owned by Mr Konrad



Afterwards, the participants visited the facility for cattle breeding and slaughtering, which deals with the direct distribution of fresh beef on the local market. The owners of this business (farm and the slaughterhouse) are Mrs. Ana and Mr. Andreas Glawogger. The farm has 25 hectares of its own land and 18 hectares of rental land, 90 cattle / castrated bulls for fattening and 32 heads of dairy cows with daily milk yield amounting in 500L. They slaughter one head on a monthly basis, but in its own registry the have approximately 100 regular customers. Milk is delivered to the local dairy. Slaughtering facility consists of one room and the cooling chamber for the fresh meat, and it operates with respect to the time of separation of the slaughter and cutting operations.

Figure 3. Visit to the cattle farm and slaughterhouse of the Glawogger family

In the afternoon, participants visited a pig farm and a facility for slaughter and processing of a larger capacity, owned by Mr. Andreas Hammer. The building operates within the family farm, where the family business is in activity for more than 60 years. They own a farm with 300 pigs for fattening, streaming about 20 pigs per day to slaughtering, and at the Annual level they slaughter approximately 600 heads. Stunning is done using electric power, and after cutting is done the processing takes place for the production of dried and smoked products. Smoking is done using beech and juniper sawdust. The product portfolio includes the production of smoked/cured meat, fermented sausages, pork fat, etc. The products are sold in their own market or on the local market.



Figure 4. Visit to the Hammer family household

Day III- Wednesday 24th of February

In the morning hours Mr. Andreas Wunsch (leading veterinary official and regional coordinator for the safety of food of animal origin) discussed with the participants the impressions gained during the previous days of the visit. He also explained in detail the manner of implementing the provisions of flexibility in the field, the type of control and objects to be controlled, as well as the aspects of food safety in small slaughter and processing facilities. Of greatest interest to participants was the manner of implementation of official controls and system of work of the veterinary inspection.

Figure 5. Discussion with Mr. Wunsch



In the afternoon participants visited an ostrich farm and ostriches meat processing in the house owned by Anton family. Ostrich Farm has about 70 birds that are fattened until the age of about 1.5 years and weighing about 120 kg. In average, the meat yield of one individual animal is about 25 to 30 kg. Feed is based on cereals, soybeans, grass, etc. Area for breeding ostriches which owns household is 3.5 ha. Slaughter of animals is carried out directly on the farm, the blood is collected and taken to the facility for further processing. Cutting and deboning of meat takes place in one room next to which the show room is placed and products are sold. The product pallet ranges from fresh meat, fermented sausages, pate, eggs, etc.

Figure 6. Visit to the ostrich farm and ostrich processing facility

Day IV- Thursday, 25th of February

The participants visited a deer farm, which is owned by the Schmidt family. On an area of about 7

hectares around 100 animals is raised. Slaughtering is done directly on the farm, and the meat

transported to a processing plant on the farm. On average, 80 tons is processed annually.



Figure7. The deer farm and household of the Schmidt family

The meat is used for serving in the family owned restaurant. The household also deals with the production of beer (having fermentation and maturing tanks) as well as the production of high-quality whiskey (in the facility for fermentation, distillation and the ripening of whiskey in the special barrels).

The same day participants also visited the facility in the property of Mr. Bernhard 's Kroboth, which

consists of a small slaughterhouse for cattle, pigs , deer and poultry. Dr Astrid Bucher (district

veterinarian) and Dr Charlotte Clement (official veterinarian) also attended the meeting.

Figure 8. Household of the Kroboth family

The facility was approved three years ago. Processing operations and cutting are performed in one equipped room. Slaughter and bleeding of cattle are carried out outside of the building. Smoking and drying of meat are made in a separate, independent facility. The slaughtering capacity is 70 wild boars, 50-60 deer, 5 cows and about 20 head of domestic pigs annually. The owners noted that the trend of demand tends to increase.



CONCLUSIONS

At the end of the study visit, participants have primarily expressed their positive impressions and the importance of acquiring knowledge and experiences through this kind of practical training in the field and through the experience of countries which are EU members. The experience of Austria, in the area of practical application of the food safety derogations will be of a great help during the operational applications of the provisions of flexibility in the area of food safety in Montenegro. In addition, participants have raised a number of conclusions as follows: • In Montenegro, this type of facilities have not yet been registered/slaughterhouses have not been approved. The lessons learned, which are the result of the study visit, will contribute to more efficient work in the field, adequate control and eventual approval of similar facilities; • It is of crucial importance that as soon as possible, the planned activities of the project in terms of assistance in drafting of guidelines for flexibility, are commenced due to the following reasons:

a) Rules on the flexibility in Montenegro are in the final stages of adoption, and it is necessary in this regard to perform adequate training to competent services and manufacturers for ensuring an efficient application of these new legal standards, while respecting the principles of good hygienic and good manufacturing practices defined by the hygienic package.

b) Effective implementation flexibility measures will allow manufacturers to take advantage of the funds intended for reconstruction of the facilities through the IPARD-like line of funding, and the call for applications will be announced in March this year. This will enable producers to use substantial funds and thus improve their capacity and generally strengthen the meat sector in Montenegro.

• There is a need to consider the possibility of one more study visit of this type in one of the EU Member States and to implement the project components, with a focus on the production/processing of beef, sheep and goat meat.

This study visit was of relevant importance, both in terms of acquiring adequate practical knowledge, and in terms of establishing closer cooperation between the inspection services, legislative bodies and manufacturers, all of which leads to an efficient system of meat production in Montenegro and strengthening the agriculture sector as a whole.



Annex 1.

List of participants

Mr Jasmin Ajanović Producer, Pljevlja Municipality

Ms Marijana Bošković Inspector, Veterinary Inspection

Mr Zoran Zdravković

Inspector, Veterinary Inspection

Mr Mithad Aličković Producer, Bijelo Polje Municipality

Ms Merisa Čekić Advisor, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

Ms Aleksandra Martinović Liaison Officer, FAO

Mr Gojko Babović Head of the Livestock Selection Service, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

Ms Mirjana Drašković Head, Veterinary Inspection

Ms Vesna Popov Interpreter

Mr Vido Batrićević Njeguši Producer, Cetinje Municipality

Mr Nebojša Kaljević Producer, HM Zabljak

Ms Lisa Paglietti Economist, FAO Investment Centre

Ms Biljana Blečić Director, Veterinary Directorate

Mr Đorđije Radonjić Njeguši Producer, Cetinje Municipality

Ms Sarah Mercadante FAO, Project Officer and Study tour focal point

Mr Bogdan Vukotić Producer, Cetinje Municipality

Mr Marko Šekarić Inspector, Veterinary Inspection

Report from the study tour to Austria on flexibility ... Study tour... · out ante-mortem and post...

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