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The ordianance will be released to the Official Gazette by the end of the week. Director of Animal Health and Food Safety Department with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Dr. Ventzeslava Taseva added that experts of the Ministry as well as several representatives of NGOs have contributed to the preparation of the Ordinance. The project has been finally approved by the European Commission in order to be launched in Bulgaria.
This ordinance is oriented at medium-sized farms in order to get direct access to the market. It is a question of initiativeness and we expect business to act more actively, added further Minister Naydenov.
What the Ordinance allows:
Sale of own farm products to the end consumers, shops and restaurants - so called direct supplies as well as processing of these products in their own retail establishments and offering them to the end consumer.
Direct supplies of the following products could be carried out:
• Raw cow, sheep, goat or buffalo milk - from a farm and milkomat, unpasteurized and only cooled to 40-60 C and within 24 hours of milking.
• Honey - from an apiary and bazaars, markets, market-places and retail establishments.
• Eggs from chickens and quails - from farms and retail establishments, owned by farmers as well as to municipal markets.
• Fresh and refrigerated sea or freshwater fish - from the fishing vessel, wharfs, ports, boat shelters, fishery farms, retail establishments, property of the fishermen.
• Meat from animals slaughtered at the farm, poultry and rabbits - from the farm to retail establishments, property of the farmer.
• Wild game and wild game meat - from the processing establishments to the retail ones.
What is specific?
• All retail establishments which receive direct supplies must be located within the same administrative area in which the farm is. Exception are made only for shot game , as some hunting areas are located in more than two administrative districts, fish where the catch area borders with neighboring administrative district and honey, which can be offered across the country.
Farm product manufacturing in the retail establishments, property of the farmer can be carried out with:
• raw milk produced in the farm;
• raw meat of domestic cloven-hoofed animals, birds, rabbits and ostriches bred in their own farm and slaughtered in slaughterhouses.
• retail establishments must be registered under the Food Act, to be owned by farmers themselves and located in the same administrative district where the farm is situated.
• retail establishments could be located within the farm’s territory.
• retail establishments could produce any kind of dairy and meat products, provided that they meet the requirements of the Ordinance and have the necessary conditions for production.
Manufacturers are subjected to official control by the competent authorities, as all other operators, to ensure food safety as for that purpose registers are kept, products are labeled and packaged according to the requirements laid down in the Ordinance.
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