, 16 August 2016 : With several months of negotiations with Russia, decks are cleared for dairy exports, as the later has signed export protocols with India.

Russia’s Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (FSVPS) has very strict guidelines for dairy imports from any country globally.

As per FSVPS, it is mandatory for any milk producer to get milk directly from the farm and not from the collection centre, for which, Russia has dropped the clause of captive cattle farms with at least 1,000 cattle to qualify for exports.

This will now open markets to Russia, which is estimated to be a $40 billion, which was previously catered by Western countries, including European Union (EU).

Currently, in India only two dairy have been approved by FDVPS in April 2015 that includes Parag Milk Foods and Shreiber Dynamix Diaries.

Speaking to a national daily, Parag Milk Foods MD said that the company is ready to meet all conditions laid down by the Russians. Once they realize that our items, such as hard cheese, are of premium quality, they would hopefully be open to exports from more companies.

The clause of 1000 cattle in captive farm is not possible, as in India, milk are procures from farmers directly to milk collection centres and from there big dairy purchase it.

Even, India’ biggest dairy co-operative, Amul does not have such farm, so India did not include the 1000 cattle captive farm in the signed protocol.