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Grodno Meat-Packing Factory aims for EU market

The Grodno-based meat-packing factory intends to start exporting meat products to the European Union, the company’s Director General Anatoly Grishuk told BelTA. The company is busy getting ready for EU certification that will open the European market for Grodno meat products. A team of sanitary experts of the European Union examined the company on 23 August. The experts had found little to complain about. Once the defects are fixed, experts from Brussels will re-examine the company to assign it a European food producer number. The decision is supposed to be made by the end of 2011. Anatoly Grishuk said the company had been working for some time to reach into the European market. Over the last six years the company has spent around Br101 billion on retooling. At present the company exports animal hides to Spain, Poland, Germany, Lithuania and Latvia. In January-July 2010 the company’s output grew by 4% on the year. Export totaled $19.6 million, import - $9.5 million, the foreign trade surplus - $10.1 million. Russia accounted for 98% of the export. Grodno Meat-Packing Factory was commissioned in 1972 and was incorporated as a joint-stock company in 1996. The company’s complete manufacturing cycle is compliant with European standards and norms. The company introduced ISO 9001-2001 and ISO 9001-2000 standards in 2003 in the German accreditation system TGA. The company is one of the first Belarusian manufacturers to have introduced a HACCP-compliant quality management system. In November 2006 its environmental management system was certified for compliance with STB ISO 14001-2006. The company employs 1,350 people.