Bulgaria-Milk Inspections.

BULGARIA-MILK INSPECTIONS.

Prosecutors and authorities have launched mass safety inspections on milk and meat products in Bulgaria.

This has been announced on Tuesday by the veterinary service, following protests over cheap agricultural imports.

According to reports, the move is targeted at appeasing angry farmers who last week blocked a major border crossing with Romania in order to urge the government to cut imports of agricultural substitutes, such as powdered milk and palm oil, and pay subsidies.

Cheap imported substitutes

According to farmers and consumer organisations, processors often use cheap imported substitutes, of sometimes questionable quality, to produce cheese, butter and meat products without listing the ingredients on the labels..

"The checks aim to find out what kind of products and additives are used and whether the legal requirements for food safety are met," according to the veterinary service.

Do not meet food standards

Of Bulgaria’s 245 milk and 440 meat processing plants approximately four dozen are licensed to export to the European Union as the rest do not meet the bloc’s veterinary and food safety standards, Agriculture Ministry data has shown.

Farmers, which had to face a fall in agricultural prices, welcomed the safety checks but said the move was not enough to stop them from staging more protests as soon as this week.

"They just want to divert our attention from the key problem," Boiko Sinapov, head of the Association of Livestock Farmers, said.

"Our sector is dying and the Bulgarians will soon eat only imported milk and meat. The government must act urgently to start providing direct payments from the budget on top of the EU subsidies," added Sinapov.

Companies which fail to comply face fines and closures, it has been reported.