Agriculture, Estonia, Legislation, Markets and Companies

The competition announced by the meat processing company Maag Konservitoostus attracted three offers and on the basis of the lowest price Atria's was the winning bid, the ministry said. The amount of pigmeat to be supplied corresponds to the canning factory's 25 ton capacity and the estimated per unit price of canned pork produced from this meat inclusive of VAT will be 1.01 euros, the ministry said. The second batch of more than 96,500 cans is to be delivered to the ministry by November 23.

As a result of the second supply competition, the per unit price of canned pork dropped by six cents and the average price after two rounds is 1.04 euros. A third tender will be held next week.

The government decided on Oct. 29 to allocate 1.8 million euros to the state stockpiles for the purchase of canned pork. Stockpiling will remove a part of pigmeat from the market and reduce the glut caused by restrictions established in connection with African swine fever (ASF). Maag Konservitoostus is the sole maker of canned meat in Estonia cleared for processing meat from the third ASF control zone.

The plan for the production of canned pork has been drawn up initially for a period of six weeks, after which it can be extended if necessary. AS Maag Konservitoostus is buying the meat for the production of the preserves in weekly auctions.

Plans are for the preserves to be kept as part of the stockpile until the end of 2016, after which they can be sold, handed over to the defense forces or distributed to disadvantaged categories of residents via the social welfare system.

The meat for making the preserves comes from healthy pigs in the third or protection zone for ASF subjected to veterinary checks prior to slaughter to rule out the presence of the disease.