Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 3, Trend Akhundov /
Azerbaijan will not impose a ban on frozen poultry sales, head of the Food Hygiene Department at the Republican Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology Imran Abdullayev told Trend today.
"There is no need for this in Azerbaijan, as there is no scientific basis for it," he said.
Head of Rospotrebnadzor, Chief State Sanitary Doctor Gennady Onishchenko told Interfax yesterday that Russia would implement a ban on deep-frozen poultry sales in retail networks, as well as its use in processing, from Jan. 1. The ban will affect both local producers and importers.
"The question is about a full refusal," Onishchenko said. "We do not allow the circulation of deeply frozen poultry meat on the Russian market, no matter if it is our meat or imported meat."
He added that frozen poultry has few basic nutrients.
"Deep freezing and defrosting before use sharply worsens the nutritional properties," Onishchenko said.
At present, Azerbaijan covers 74 percent of its domestic poultry product demand through domestic production. Currently, the country consumes 80,000 tons of poultry meat and these volumes are expected to increase in the future.
According to Executive Director of the Economic Development Ministry's National Fund for Entrepreneurship Support Shirzad Abdullayev, Azerbaijan will fully cover its domestic tribal egg and poultry meat needs by late 2011.