National Milk Control Laboratory Batajnica to start working in January 2018

The National Milk Control Laboratory in Batajnica will start working in the last week or December or the first week of January, Minister of Agriculture Branislav Nedimovic announced on December 18 and added that it would take four to five months for the laboratory to be accredited.

Nedimovic told the press in Sremska Mitrovica that, in the future, in addition to private laboratories controlling the quality of milk, the state would also control manufacturers and accredited laboratories.

The minister said that the system of payment of premiums for milk will remain the same in 2018 – seven dinars per liter of milk, whereas, beginning with January 2019, when the laboratory becomes fully operational, the price would be determined in line with milk quality.

Nedimovic announced that a national laboratory for food safety would also open in March 2018.

Discussing the agricultural budget for 2018, he said that the majority of the funds would be set aside for subsidies for the procurement of mechanization and equipment, storage and processing capacities, whereas a part of the money would be meant for co-financing the IPARD program of the EU. There will also be more money for young agriculturists starting a business.

Money has been secured for electrification of fields and an automated hail protection system as well, as a new, modern radar center is to be built.

Nedimovic repeated that the state had set aside considerable funds to ameliorate the consequences of the droughts of 2017, and he also pointed out that a safe system for reimbursement of fuel for agriculturists was being prepared in order to avoid misuse.

Ministarstvo poljoprivrede, šumarstva i vodoprivrede Republike Srbije

Branislav Nedimovic

National Milk Control Laboratory

milk testing

milk quality

testing chenical composition of milk

raw milk quality

raw milk

Batajnica

milk quality control

price in line with milk quality

national food safety laboratory

IPARD program

field electrification

automated hail protection systems

radar centers

drought

consequences of drought

premiums for milk

reimbursement of fuel

reimbursed fuel

fuel for agriculturists