Meat sellers complain about mass checks after Kadyrov's statement

Large-scale quality checks of beef, mutton and chicken meat sold in Chechen marketplaces were launched after the statement of the head of the republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, about the need to combat genetically modified (GM) foodstuffs. The inspectors' actions caused sellers' discontent.

Mr Kadyrov stressed the need to control the foodstuffs sold in Chechnya on March 12, during a sitting. "We are working to produce ecologically clean food in our republic – vegetables, fruits, cattle and poultry meat. Healthy food helps to reduce the risk of cancer and increases human life duration," the website of the head and the government of Chechnya quotes him as saying.

He called to work towards "eat our own vegetables, fruits and berries, and not those brought from abroad, where they are treated with chemicals."

"We are facing total checks of meat outlets. Inspectors look into documents to learn where the meat was brought from. They say that inspections are aimed at preventing sale of GM foodstuffs, which, allegedly, cause oncology diseases," Viskhan, an entrepreneur, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Some traders are sure that the fight on GM foodstuffs has completely different goals. "The authorities have their own interest: people, who are close to the leadership, are promoting their own products; they want us entrepreneurs to buy beef and chicken from them, and not import meat from other places," the owner of one of the booths selling meat told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent on condition of anonymity.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.