Participants in the ‘Cold Chain Eurasia’ International Conference examined food safety and quality preservation at each stage of the supply chain
05.11.24
Participants in the ‘Cold Chain Eurasia’ International Conference examined food safety and quality preservation at each stage of the supply chain

On 19 September 2024, St. Petersburg hosted the ‘Cold Chain Eurasia’ International Conference, which once again brought together practitioners from all links in the supply chain for food items that require temperature control throughout their travel across Russia, China, India, Iran, EAEU countries, etc. More than 130 experts, including carriers, rolling stock and container fleet operators, consignors, operators of perishable goods storage facilities and IT companies, took part in the Conference to discuss the industry’s most pressing challenges and tools for resolving them.

Conference centrepiece

The plenary session moderated by Mikhail Goncharov, Secretary General of the International Coordinating Council on Trans-Eurasian Transport (CCTT), was the highlight of the Conference. Oleg Kobyakov, Director of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Liaison Office with the Russian Federation, welcomed the Conference participants, marking the growing role of food security in Russia’s foreign policy.

Mikhail Sinev, President of ASORPS, spoke about the importance of temperature control in logistics and the challenges the sector faces today.

“Russia has no uniform, clear unbroken cold chain (UCC) technology at the moment; nor is there any single agency to supervise the UCC. The Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Transport, the Federal Antimonopoly Service, Rospotrebnadzor (Federal Supervisory Service for Consumer Protection and Welfare of the Russian Federation) and Rosselkhoznadzor (Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance) lack coordination in building a unified regulatory framework. We see a mismatch of temperature requirements for transporting perishable goods among the different modes of transport,” Mikhail Sinev.

He also gave as examples other countries that have separate laws for unbroken cold chain. For instance, in Brazil, the Ministry of Agriculture, Federal Inspection Service, Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency and the state corporation all contribute to building such a supply chain, operating under a single regulatory authority. Seeking to address these issues, two years ago, ASORPS drafted a Federal Law on building an unbroken cold chain in Russia, proposing that a single regulatory body be set up for the UCC by the state in association with self-regulating organizations.

“Unbroken cold chain is  crucial to maintaining supply chains under current conditions,” Tadzio Schilling, CEO of the Association of European Businesses (AEB), supported his colleagues. “Unbroken cold chain regulation is a complex issue requiring coordination between different stakeholders.”

Dmitry Gorokh, Deputy Head for Freight and Commercial Work at Russian Railways, spoke about the role of railway transport in the unbroken cold chain. He stressed the importance of refrigerated transportation by rail and mentioned that its share in Russia is growing. Russian Railways is rapidly developing domestic supplies and promoting export routes under the North-South Project. Over 1.6 million tonnes of freight were carried via this transport corridor in 2023, including 1.1 million tonnes by rail.

Effective formats for each UCC aspect

The concerns addressed at the plenary session were covered further at three other business programme events, each focusing on a specific aspect of managing and operating the unbroken cold chain.

The business programme continued with a market session “Cold Chain Business and Profits: Figures and Facts” moderated by Natalia Stepanova, Deputy Secretary General, International Coordinating Council on Trans-Eurasian Transportation.

Guo Honglian, Director of RailNet Logistics (China), spoke about the company’s engagement with International Transport Corridors, including Primorye-1. He told about the four key routes for the meat and fish trade between China and Russia, and highlighted congestion at border crossings and cuts in subsidies, saying, however, that the company was working hard to optimize its transport routes

Andrey Grechkin, CEO of Dalreftrans (member of the GESCO Group), said that modernization of refrigerated containers had enabled the company to reduce the age of its equipment from 17 to 8 years. Evgeniy Chizh (FishStat) presented a digital platform featuring logistics and storage capabilities for wholesale marketing of fish products. Marina Kodina (WELLGO) spoke about successful delivery of pharmaceuticals to Central America in compliance with international standards, which helped the customer save 20% on costs. Samaneh Alipour, CEO of Behineh Tarabar Azhour – International Railway Transport and Logistics (Iran), also joined the session online.

Participants in the business session “Food Market: Retail and Logistics” focused on unbroken cold chain monitoring, the challenges of long-haul transportation and the need for online cargo monitoring solutions. They also discussed refrigerated transportation, operations in severe climates, infrastructure and personnel shortage issues that impact on logistics. The speakers at the session included Anton Vostrikov, Development Director, Polar Star LLC; Eduard Minenkov, Head of Refrigerated Transportation, GLT Group; Olga Potapova, Director of Purchasing and Logistics, IFCM Group; Azamat Yusupov, Vice-President for Trade and Technology Development, Antey Group; Olga Smirnova, Head of Quality Department, METRO Russia; and Konstantin Strelkov, Head of Logistics Development, Cherkizovo.

A smart session “Cold Industry: Technologies of the Future” concluded the Conference business programme. Its participants focused on the prospects for using digital currency for international transportation of temperature-sensitive cargos, importation into Russia of refrigeration equipment with cooling agents that damage the ozone layer, as well as potential AI-powered solutions for cargo monitoring and route planning. 

The Conference was organized by the International Coordinating Council on Trans-Eurasian Transport (CCTT), the Association of Food Sector Organizations (ASORPS) and the Expo Solutions Group. The Association of European Businesses (AEB) sponsored the Conference.

Title partner – Antey Group; official partner – FishStat; partners – Strazh, Dalreftrans, with participation by Refservice and Advantum.

The dates for the 2025 Conference will be announced later. You may follow updates on the website and Telegram channel.

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