The account of the seizure of broken meat, about 80 thousand pounds [80 thousand kg] have been eliminated this year alone

But that figure is estimated to be much higher, as in Kosovo municipalities the competence for control, seizure and extermination of products is carried by municipal inspectors, who report only to municipal organs and not to central organs or AUV.

In Kosovo, the Food and Veterinary Agency is the highest authority on food and veterinarians, which is also responsible for protecting the lives and health of citizens, ensuring high levels of food safety.

This agency's spokesman, Lamir Thaci, told Radio Free Europe, that the Veterinary Inspectorate of the Food and Veterinary Agency from the beginning of this year has so far eliminated about 80 thousand pounds of meat and meat products.

This amount includes only extermination from AUV inspectors. Deteriorated amount of veterinarian inspectors, we don't own within municipalities. They are organised within local government. For their work they respond to the local governing bodies and act as two separate powers based on the Constitution and the laws in power”, Thaci said.

But only early this week have municipal inspectors in Ferizaj eliminated 350kg of meat products.

The head of the nongovernmental organisation “Consumer”, Ceatin Kacanik, says the situation is very disturbing when it comes to its meat and products, due to continuing doubts about the deadline, which has been proven in many cases during recent raids on the warehouses of different companies in all Kosovo municipalities.

According to him, since recent findings that rotten meat has been found in many points of sale or preservation of this product, consumer interest in buying this product has also been significantly diminished.

When we receive information that an amount of food is lost, we automatically suspect how much is on the market or they've been sold and the consumer hasn't seen it or discovered it, says Kachanic.

Adding control to the local market by both Agency and municipal inspectors has followed the discovery of scandal with suspicious meat imported from Belgium by the firm V EVIBA, which had infiltrated the Kosovo market in 2016.

The Constitutional Prosecutor in Prizren in co-operation with the chief state prosecutor has already launched investigations against responsible persons and judicial subjects, which have imported from Belgium quantities of meat with suspicious qualities.

Otherwise, for all these cases AUV inspectors have so far initiated seven cases of counter-injury in court, Lamir Thaci says.

We have other subjects that have been handed over to the legal office and some that are still in procedure for initiative. We do not divide the ban into minor or serious cases”.

Any amount of meat found to be failing to meet the conditions for consumption make decisions on annihilation. To anyone who tries to trade unsafe products, all the previous measures with the laws at power” will be undertaken, he says.

According to Kosovo Customs data, over 40 million pounds of meat are imported from various countries in the world for a year. The largest quantity of this product is imported from the US, Brazil, Argentina and the Netherlands.