A roundtable discussion on teaching reindeer breeders and veterinarians the regulations for exporting meat to Europe was held in Naryan-Mar. It was attended by veterinarians, veterinary students at an agrarian-economic vocational school, and representatives from farm and ranch cooperatives who are planning to expand reindeer meat exports.

Specialists from a college in Lapland and others interested in the project were also scheduled to attend the meeting but cancelled due to coronavirus restrictions.

"Regrettably, the Finnish expert group could not make it here because of the coronavirus but they took part in the discussion remotely, via video link," the organizers explained, adding that Rosselkhoznadzor representatives followed suit.

The Department of Natural Resources, Ecology and Agro-Industrial Complex of the Nenets Autonomous Area reported that the goal of the project is to develop northern reindeer meat exports, while the roundtable discussion was devoted to the veterinary support of these exports.

Andrei Listishenko, who headed the area's veterinary inspection department for 16 years and is now an expert in the project, gave a talk at the meeting. He described the EU's main food production regulations.

"The emphasis was on the requirements and performance of veterinarians at all levels. Support for exports is primarily about compliance with veterinary requirements. We talked about the hygiene of food products and slaughter regulations and also compared our requirements to the EU's in terms of reindeer meat," he said.

As part of the educational experience, the participants visited the farm's flaying shops in the village of Kharyaginsky where a trial slaughter of reindeer took place. After this, the invited experts assessed the farm's performance in terms of EU requirements.