RUSSIAN REGS FOR INTERACTION WITH CHINA FOR OKHOTSK SEA FISHING SEASON

Russian regs for interaction with China for Okhotsk Sea fishing season. Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation – Head of the Federal Agency for Fisheries Ilya Shestakov held a meeting of the operational headquarters for the preparation of the Okhotsk Sea fishing season, starting on January 1. At the meeting, it was decided to develop a regulation providing for the exchange with the Chinese side of lists of ships, in respect of which additional guarantees are given that they strictly adhere to the recommendations excluding the appearance of a virus on board and on manufactured products.

The meeting discussed issues related to the organisation of fishing, with the timely issuance of all necessary permits by the territorial departments of the Federal Agency for Fishery, the loading of internal processing facilities and the situation with the delivery of products to the ports of China and South Korea in a difficult epidemiological situation. In general, it was noted that all technical measures for carrying out the fishing season are carried out regularly. The main issue is the downtime of ships associated with restrictions imposed in Chinese ports of unloading.

Ilya Shestakov announced that on December 24, negotiations were held with the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Russia, who promised to immediately inform Beijing about the actions taken by the Russian side. In particular, the introduction of new, stricter security protocols.

“It is necessary to fully comply with the requirements set by the Chinese side,” said the head of the Federal Agency for Fishery. “Cases of detection of COVID-19 on ships undermine the credibility of our security system. In this regard, the system of diagnostics of our products and crews will be tightened in order to exclude cases of the introduction of the virus from Russian products and Russian ships, ”Ilya Shestakov said.

Representatives of Rospotrebnadzor recommend introducing a scheme that is used for enterprises operating on a rotational basis, in which all employees are placed in observatories, where tests are carried out not only for the presence of the virus, but also for immunoglobulin G and M, followed by a 2-week quarantine. This technique, according to representatives of Rospotrebnadzor, has shown its effectiveness.

Ilya Shestakov proposed, together with Rosselkhoznadzor and Rospotrebnadzor, to develop a scheme under which to reach an agreement with the Chinese side on the exchange of lists of vessels in respect of which the Russian authorities give additional guarantees that they comply with all established safety protocols of Rospotrebnadzor. “These will be ships that we recognise as clean from COVID-19 and believe that these reliable suppliers can supply products without going through additional slops in the roadstead of ports,” Shestakov said. Together with Rospotrebnadzor, a special reporting form will be prepared for such companies, and these will be not only fishing vessels, but also transport vessels. “I consider it unacceptable to conduct unfair activities on the part of individual employers, which then lead to consequences for all fishermen,”

Aleksey Buglak, President of the Alaska Pollock Catchers’ Association, was invited to consider the possibility of working through other ports. “Within the framework of the association, you could take on coordination work on the division of logistics and transport flows, there are such opportunities,” Ilya Shestakov said. Alexey Buglak, in turn, asked the head of the Federal Agency for Fishery to consider issuing product certificates, taking into account legal and regulatory restrictions, after the arrival of the cargo at Korean ports, when the shipper already knows exactly the volume of products shipped, the name of the vessel on which this vessel will go. “In this case, transport vessels could go straight to Busan without entering China and staying there for 3-4 weeks,” the ADM president said.

It was also reported at the meeting that product safety certificates have already been agreed with the Indonesian authorities, which will make it possible to put in place a temporary supply channel for product processing.

Source: United Press Service of the Federal Agency for Fishery