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Significant measures are taken in the field of Food Safety, Veterinary and Plant Protection
Within the scope of "Minister’s Hour", the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Mr. Otar Shamugia, spoke about the importance of increasing official food safety controls and veterinary and phytosanitary measures, as implemented within the framework of the Official program.
The Minister accentuated, that along with intensification of official food safety controls, awareness of business operators is likewise on the rise eeach year. Important measures are taken in veterinary and plant protection fields, which ensure prevention of spread of both animal diseases and plant pests alike.
The National Food Agency annually carries out prophylactic vaccinations against especially dangerous infectious diseases of animals (foot-and-mouth disease, anthrax, rabies, pestes des petits ruminants, lumpy skin disease, etc.) and identifies and registers animals. It is noteworthy that the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) has positively assessed measures taken by the National Food Agency against rabies and the progress already achieved.Â
To minimize damage to crops and maintain yields, it is important to control the number of quarantine and especially dangerous pests, to prevent their spread and implement countermeasures against them. In Georgia, as well as in many other countries around the world, against the backdrop of global warming, sharp rise in population of quarantine pests can be observed. "To overcome the issue, plant protection measures are taken every year to help farmers maintain their crops. As a result of actions against the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB), farmers have reaped high-quality harvest leading to a boost in hazelnut exports. "In 2021, revenue from hazelnut exports amounted to 115 million US dollars (24 thousand tons), most of exported hazelnuts (69%) went to EU markets, in countries such as Italy, Germany, Spain, Czech Republic, France and etc." - stated Mr. Otar Shamugia.