Comparative Study on the Present Georgian Beef Sector Safety and Quality Standards and Regulations
The note provides comparative review of legislation governing beef sector in Georgia, the EU and the United States focusing on legislation on veterinary medicines, organic beef production, animal welfare, contagious diseases, animal movement and trade, and inspections. Georgia’s SPS legislation pertaining to the beef sector closely resembles the equivalent legislation in the EU. Therefore, there are no major gaps and shortcomings in the content of Georgia’s legislation in comparison with the EU and the United States respective enactments.
The major gap is in the implementation stage of regulations. This was corroborated by interviewed stakeholders and the results of slaughterhouse operator survey. Factors that underlay Georgia’s limited implementation capacity of current legislation include shortage of adequately trained veterinary professionals, limited laboratory capacity, and a limited public fund availability for implementation of different regulatory measures.
Survey of slaughterhouse operators revealed existence of illegal slaughtering practices in the regions; majority of slaughterhouse operators perceived illegal slaughtering as an impediment for their operations. Currently, in Georgia there are no beef relevant formal standards. Pricing of beef along with different supply and demand factors has been based on the type of primal cuts, and subjective appraisal of sellers. The review did not find any associations and/ or companies with experience or the capacity to work with the Government on further development of the legislation and policies pertaining to the beef sector.