The main purpose of the visit was to ensure that Grandparent (GP) stock imported to Belarus is of the highest quality and the origins of all birds can be traced right back through the breeding process.

The visit to Aviagen allowed Mr Fesin and Mr Snidlovsky to see first-hand the biosecurity and traceability systems Aviagen has in place. A trip to Aviagen’s hatchery in Stratford, England was organised along with a visit to their dedicated feed mill in Cupar, Scotland. Presentations on Aviagen’s global activities and research and development work were given by some of Aviagen’s senior personnel, including Brian Whittle, President, European Operations and Jim McAdam, UK Breeding Programme Director.

Mr Fesin said, “I was impressed with the high level of biosecurity and organisation in both facilities. We do not have a dedicated feed mill in Belarus, but our visit there showed how important it is to get the feed right, because good feed means good performance and leads to a quality product. We hope to double the amount of poultry meat produced in Belarus by 2015 and the importing of good quality breeding stock is vital to that happening. I am grateful to everyone at Aviagen for taking the time to show us these facilities and we look forward to a strong relationship in the future.”

Mr Whittle commented, “This visit underlines the importance of the poultry business within the Belarusian economy and how important the GP business is to the future development of the industry. Belpticeprom is investing heavily in new production facilities and equipment to build up a state-of-the-art business. We are proud to help our global partners in any way we can and we feel this recent visit by Mr Fesin and Mr Snidlovsky only strengthens the partnership with Aviagen.“

Eduard Taktarov, Sales Director, Aviagen LLC, added, “I would like to say thank you to everyone who was involved in the visit. The president of Belarus has called 2010 the “year of quality”. This highlights the importance of quality at all levels of production, and so our visitors were keen to investigate all aspects of poultry production. I am hopeful that their findings and experience will help to secure future imports of GP stock into Belarus.”