Skopje, 10 June 2025 (MIA) — The country has banned Brazilian chicken imports after Brazil confirmed its first case of the bird flu virus on a commercial farm. Also, due to an outbreak of sheep and goat plague in Albania, sheep and goat imports have been banned as well, Food and Veterinary Agency head Oliver Milanov said Tuesday.

Milanov spoke to the press ahead of a gathering organized in cooperation with the European Food Safety Authority to mark June 7, World Food Safety Day.

Asked about the food safety standards in the country, Milanov said the food was generally safe but more food safety inspectors would be deployed at tourist cities and towns like Ohrid, Struga, Prespa and Dojran this summer.

In his remarks at the World Food Safety Day gathering, Milanov said inspectors had destroyed some 56 tons of food on the local market as unsafe and issued 260 fines for food safety violations this year so far. Also, the FVA had recently destroyed a shipment of imported food of animal origin weighing 207 tons, he said.

Citing World Health Organization data, the FVA director said pathogenic agents in food, whether they are microbial — such as viruses, bacteria and parasites — or chemical — from toxins and heavy metals, to pesticide residues and veterinary drugs — carry risks to human health. 

Milanov said an estimated 600 million people got sick and 420,000 people died from unsafe food each year. Foodborne diseases and deaths can be prevented, however, "when food safety is a priority," he said. 

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According to other participants at the gathering, members of the public should do their part to be informed consumers and make informed decisions about their food.

To promote safe food handling practices, they said, the state needs to invest in educating citizens about food safety basics beginning at an early age, in schools. mr/