ZAGREB, January 29, 2019 - Following media reports that a Polish slaughter house was processing meat from sick cows, Croatia's chief veterinary inspector, Gordan Jerbić, said on Tuesday that Croatia did not import meat of sick cows from Poland and that there was no need for local consumers to fear.

"An inspection of the documents attached to each animal shipment imported into Croatia established that Croatia did not import meat from that abattoir," Jerbić told reporters after media outlets released secretly taken footage of exceptionally sick cows that were being smuggled into the Polish abattoir and processed without hardly any veterinary inspection at all.

Jerbić added that more than 14,000 official inspections were conducted last year of live animals and of animal products, with more than 4,500 samples of imported fresh meat being taken.

About 700 objections were lodged regarding breaches related to the hygiene of products of animal origin and equipment in meat processing plants and 17 criminal charges were filed at relevant courts.

Jerbić underscored that inspections are conducted "from farm to the table," each stage being checked from slaughter, packaging and transport to the end user.

Asked about meat from the Polish abattoir, Jerbić said that an investigation was still underway. "We sent a query to the relevant Polish authority but haven't received a reply as to where that meat ended up. However, following an inspection of the documentation, there is no need to fear that that meat ended up in Croatia," Jerbić underscored.

He confirmed that Croatia does import a certain quantity of meat from Poland, mostly fresh beef.

More news on the Croatian agriculture can be found in the Business section.

ZAGREB, December 2, 2018 - An exhibition of photos about the Krakow Nativity Scene tradition was staged in Zagreb's Zrinjevac Square on Saturday within the Advent programme in the Croatian capital city, the Polish embassy said in a press release.

The Nativity Scene tradition (or szopka in Polish) in Krakow has been recently added to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The Nativity Scene tradition in the second biggest Polish city "is a social practice originating from Christmas celebration customs, centred around constructing cribs. Born in the nineteenth century, the tradition is indissolubly connected to the City of Krakow and based on skills and knowledge passed down for generations. The szopka is a lightweight construction featuring the nativity scene surrounded by representations of houses and monuments of Krakow, all transformed by the individual maker," according to the description of this cultural heritage on the UNESCO website.

"Other scenes are also represented through figurines and artificial lighting, depicting historical, cultural and contemporary social events relating to life in the City of Krakow, Poland and the world."

Apart from the event in Zagreb, also one more exhibition on this subject matter will be staged at Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in the eastern city of Osijek in the period from 5 December to 7 January.

Zagreb and Krakow have had partnership arrangements since 1975.

For more on the relations between Croatia and Poland, click here.

ZAGREB, October 14, 2018 - The first edition of the Wisla Festival of Polish Films will be held in Zagreb's Grič Cinema from 16 through 20 October, featuring ten recent productions.

Tens of thousands of Polish tourists come to Croatia every year.

There are more and more large companies in Croatia owned by Polish investors.

ZAGREB, June 24 (Hina) - Seven Croatian inventors and entrepreneurs won nine awards at INTARG 2018, the 11th International Invention and Innovation Show held in Katowice, Poland, and the most successful Croatian exhibitor was Zvonimir Viduka of the ALTPRO d.o.o. company.

ZAGREB, June 15, 2018 - The Ministry of Defence said in a press release that Croatian troops had successfully participated in a military exercise held at the Bemowo Piskie Training Area in Poland, where they demonstrated their skills and achieved inter-operability of NATO's Battle Group and Poland's Armed Forces.

ZAGREB, April 12, 2018 - The seventh forum of Croatian and Polish regions opened in the northern Adriatic town of Poreč on Wednesday, bringing together about a hundred participants for a two-day meeting.

ZAGREB, April 3, 2018 - A farewell ceremony was given in the eastern town of Vinkovci on Tuesday for 100 members of Croatia's Guards Armoured and Mechanised Brigade who are travelling to Poland to join NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence mission.

ZAGREB, March 27, 2018 - The Polish private equity Enterprise Fund VII has signed a contract on the acquisition of a 65% stake in Croatian bakery retailer Pan-Pek, Enterprise Investors (EI), which manages the fund, said on Tuesday.