On December 3, Armen Ayrapetyan, the Head of the State Service for Food Safety of MOA, RA (hereinafter Service), accepted Said al-Masri, the former Minister of Agriculture of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the director of the Hashemite Fund for the Development of Badia of Jordan; Waleed Saeed, the director of Khayrat Beladi company; Arthur Mkrtichev, the honorary consul of Russia to Jordan and Karen Asoyan, the trade representative of RA to Russian Federation.
The aim of the meeting was to discuss the export opportunities of small cattle from our country both to Jordan and other Arab countries and the development prospects of this branch of agriculture. The Head of the Service mentioned that the potential of the development of animal husbandry in our country is great, and the government is taking steps aimed at expanding the export directions and strengthening the sector. The guests are interested in the export of animal species bred in this region, particularly in Armenia, and consider them competitive in their market. Said al-Masri said they expect to increase the export volumes of small cattle in the result of the cooperation, to create a sustainable basis for it, to develop the sector.
Introducing the veterinary control system and veterinary-epidemiological situation in Armenia, Hovhannes Mkrtchyan, the Head of the Veterinary Inspection of the Service highlighted that acute infectious diseases of animals have not been recorded in Armenia over the past five years, the last case of foot-and-mouth disease was recorded in 2004. At the same time he mentioned that a state funded animal vaccination program is implemented in order to prevent 10-12 diseases, which in its turn contributes to the prevention of penetration and spread of possible animal diseases from border countries.
The export and the transportation issue of animals between Armenia and Jordan through direct negotiations was highlighted at the meeting. It was noted that the competent authorities of the two countries can become a bridge between private companies, and in this context the exhibition-conference of agricultural animals and meat products which is going to be organized in spring in Jordan can be of great importance. Armenia was also invited to participate in it.