EEC Tightens Standards for Veterinary Drug Residues in EAEU Meat and Dairy Products

The regulations involve setting maximum permissible levels (MPL) for 75 pharmacologically active substances and their metabolites in animal-origin food products. The amendments were adopted under EEC Council Decision No. 70 dated June 23, 2023, aiming to unify safety requirements for livestock products across all EAEU countries.

In addition to the list of specific substances, the document introduces requirements for controlling residues of veterinary drugs that:

• are not included in the Union's unified technical regulations;

• are not registered within the EAEU member states.

The EEC Board has provided for a transition period effective from February this year. Upon its completion, the new standards will become mandatory not only for producers but also for:

• their authorized representatives,

• retailers,

• suppliers of animal-origin products.

Market participants will be required to provide information about veterinary drugs used in the production of products over the past two months. Meanwhile, products released before the end of the transition period that do not meet the new requirements may remain on the EAEU market within the manufacturer's specified shelf life.

The updated requirements are, in some cases, stricter than existing European standards. According to EEC Minister Valentin Tataritsky, the changes will enable:

• an improvement in the safety level of food products in the Union's customs territory;

• elimination of discrepancies in interpreting laboratory control results for residual veterinary substances.

"Unified and clearly established indicators will exclude subjectivity in assessing product compliance with safety requirements," he noted.

In furtherance of the EEC Council's decision of June 25, the Commission's Board also amended the list of standards for research, testing, and measurement methods applied under the "Food Safety" technical regulation. This will harmonize laboratory control and ensure comparability of results across different Union countries.

Since April 8, 2024, the Union has enforced updated requirements for meat products concerning nutritional value, not veterinary drugs. These establish permissible deviations between declared and actual indicators:

• protein content — at least 80% of what is indicated on the label;

• fat, carbohydrates, and energy value — no more than 120% of the declared values.