The Republic of Srpska Veterinary Inspection Service is going to intensify inspections of marketing and declarations on meat in order to remove suspicions on illegal marketing of frozen meat as fresh in retail sale.

All slaughtering, meat processing and marketing facilities are under continuous surveillance of the veterinary inspection service. In 2025 the Republic Veterinary Inspection Service conduced 600 inspections of facilities such as: butcher shops, wholesale facilities, retail facilities, abattoirs, farms, warehouses, production plants. In order to remove those irregularities, the businesses were issued 113 administrative measures, while minor offence orders were issued for violations committed in the total value of 71,600 BAM.

Also, the veterinary inspection services in the local self-administration units also conduct daily inspections and issue both administrative and offence measures for detected irregularities.

Inspections determine the origin of meat using traceability, which means that the amounts of meat found in refrigerators and freezers must match the data in business documents of the trader, both in terms of quantities and in terms of data on origin.

Special emphasis in inspection is on declarations, whether they match the production date, country of origin, shelf life, the meat found in the freezer or previously delivered meat, which can be determined connecting the declaration with the invoices.

Fresh unpackaged meat of animals born and/or fattened and/or slaughtered in different states that are placed on the market in shops need to be clearly separated one from another and declared in such a manner that the end consumer can easily tell the difference between meat of different origin.

The declaration of fresh unpacked meat intended for end consumer needs to, inter alia, contain the following data, in order for the consumers to be informed and for their rights to be protected:

1) state of animal’s birth “Born in” (name of contry),

2) names of countries where they were bread, stating “Bread in: (names of countries),

3) country of slaughter titled “Slaughtered in: (name of country)” and veterinary control number,

4) country of cutting: “Cut in: (name of country) and veterinary control number,

5) type of meat and category,

6) date of slaughter,

7) all special storage conditions and/or conditions of use and

8) date of use (“best before”).

The declaration of fresh meat must be placed at a visible place at the refrigerator so that can be easily seen, clearly read and if necessary with permanent lettering in large printed letters of hight equal or higher than 3.00 mm.