Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan today held a discussion on the report on the activities carried out by the Food Safety Inspectorate and the Inspectorate for Nature Protection and Mineral Resources in 2019 and during the first eight months of 2020.
Head of the Inspection Bodies’ Coordination Bureau of the Office of the Prime Minister Artur Asoyan stated that the risk-based inspection systems has also been introduced in these inspectorates, and the legislation has been regulated.
Presenting the completed activities, Head of the Food Safety Inspectorate Georgi Avetisyan stated that studies on brucellosis have been conducted in all provinces along with farmers, companies producing dairy products and meat products and employees of slaughterhouses.
In response to the Prime Minister’s question regarding food safety standards, Avetisyan stated that the Inspectorate is guided by international rules and regulations in this sector. Pashinyan asked about the observance of the rules for transferring bread and baked goods, as well as the activities for construction of slaughterhouses and organizing of slaughter of meat. Avetisyan stated that there are already 67 operating slaughterhouses, 36 of which provide services, and another 78 are under construction.
In his report, Head of the Inspectorate for Nature Protection and Mineral Resources Gnel Hasratyan presented the structural reforms made in the Inspectorate and talked about the latter’s initiatives. In particular, an environmental map has been developed within the scope of the “Protect Nature” initiative through which furnished signs will be placed in natural areas.
In response to the Prime Minister’s questions, Hasratyan reported on the monitoring of the new procedure for fishing in the basin of Lake Sevan, as well as control measures to control poaching, unlawful deforestation and operation of hydroelectric stations. Pashinyan also touched upon the issue on the use of mines without permission in the territory of Armenia and assigned to develop active control mechanisms.
Summing up, Pashinyan attached importance to the launch of mechanisms for analyzing the activities of inspection bodies and for evaluating the effectiveness of those activities.
