Slovakia - brief agricultural news, week 37 2019

Restaurants will show the origin of meat

Restaurants and cafeterias will be obliged to inform their customers about the origin of meat they cooked the food from as of mid-December. This stems from a proposal drafted by coalition MPs Eva Antosova (SNS) and Peter Antal (Most-Hid). The amending proposal was added to the amendment to the law on food, submitted by Agriculture Minister Gabriela Matecna (SNS), which has been approved. The new duty does not concern food from venison and fish, and ready-to-cook meals. The Agriculture Ministry is expected to specify where and in which form the information about the origin of meat will appear in a separate regulation.
Source: Slovak Spectator

Milk and Dairy Products Consumption in Slovakia Among Lowest in Europe

Zilina, September 12 (TASR) - Consumption of milk and dairy products in Slovakia is 170 kilograms per person per year, in Europe it is 293 kilograms, in the European Union (EU) about 320 kilograms and in the Czech Republic around 280 kilograms, former director of the Dairy Research Institute in Zilina Karol Herian told TASR on Thursday.
Herian added that in 2017 the world produced 696 billion kilograms of milk. Of which 28 percent was in the EU, 8 percent in the rest of Europe, 30 percent in Asia, 18 percent in North America, 9 percent in South America, 6 percent in Africa and 5 percent in Oceania.
"We've significantly reduced the production and consumption of dairy products and cheese in Slovakia since 1990. We currently consume two to three times less soured milk products, and especially cheese, than in developed European countries. This reduced consumption and thus reduced milk production has an adverse impact on agriculture, animal production and, in particular, human health," said Herian.

Source: TASR

PET Bottles and Cans Will Be Deposited from 2022

Bratislava, September 11 (TASR) - Starting from 2022, disposable beverage containers are to be deposited in Slovakia, based on a bill
submitted by the Environment Ministry that was approved by MPs on
Wednesday.
A deposit should be 12 cents per PET bottle and 10 cents per can. The cost of implementing the system should be €80 million. According to the new legislation, not all stores and operations have to introduce deposits. It will only be mandatory for those over 300 square metres. However, the ministry assumes that many smaller stores will take over the system over time. Approximately one billion PET bottles get into circulation in
Slovakia in one year. Separate collection yields an approximate return of 60 percent. If the return was 90 percent, the bottles collected in this way would be able to fill, for example, Bratislava's Freedom Square to a height of 22 metres.

Source: TASR