The Russian Ministry of Agriculture is updating its rules for issuing veterinary accompanying documents.

The new regulations provide for a differentiated approach to the processing time for VSDs during emergency operation of the Federal State Information System (FGIS "VetIS"). In the event of outages of up to 120 hours, processing is permitted within five business days of system restoration, and in the event of longer outages, within 10 business days.

The draft also clarifies the rules for canceling transport VSDs, prohibiting carriers from canceling documents after cargo delivery. If violations are detected, this authority remains with federal state veterinary oversight officials.

A separate section of the amendments concerns electronic VSDs, including the requirement to indicate a unique identification number for animals subject to registration. For hunting products, it is proposed to indicate the production date as the last day of the hunting period specified in the harvest permit.

Furthermore, plans are underway to simplify the process of issuing electronic VSDs for dairy products, eliminating the need to provide information on milk fat and protein concentrations. The list of cases in which special rules for issuing VSDs may apply is also being expanded.

Regarding paper documents, a new form of veterinary certificate is being introduced, and the scope of individuals who can obtain VSDs on A4 sheets is being clarified. If approved, the order is expected to take effect on September 1, 2026, and remain in effect until September 1, 2029.