Russian Federal Service might cease import of fruits from Moldova because of delivery of infected fruit batches

Chisinau, 25 October /MOLDPRES/ - The Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance  Rosselkhoznadzor has sent a letter to the National Food Safety Agency (ANSA), in which it “expresses concern about the deliveries of fruits from Moldova, infected with brown rot of fruits.” Thus, the producer which exported the batch of plums which would have been infected with this organism was excluded from the list of enterprises supplying vegetal goods to the Russian market.  

If the phyto-sanitary requirements are not observed at the export of vegetal goods, the Russian side can apply measures of ceasing the export, ANSA said.

ANSA informed the producers and exporters of vegetal products to Russia that, at the export of plums batches to the Russian market, the phyto-sanitary certificates would be released only based on the findings of the laboratory expertise as to the brown rot. And this in order not to allow the violation of the phyto-sanitary requirements of the Eurasian Economic Commission’s member countries, as well as taking into account the biology of the development of the brown rot of seed fruits.    

The analysis lasts up to 14 days; therefore, ANSA demands that producers and exporters of seed fruits (plums) appeal to phyto-sanitary inspectors of the Agency’s territorial subdivisions for the collection of fruits samples and sending them to laboratory.

At the same time, the National Food Safety Agency also warned about cases of detecting Grapholita molesta Busck in fruits, which also poses phyto-sanitary risk for Russia.

In last mid-September, ANSA informed that it had requests for the export to Russia of fruits and vegetables from 248 agricultural enterprises; yet, since 2015 till present, only 54 of them have got authorization of Rosselkhoznadzor. 

In 2017, more than 90 per cent of Moldova’s fruits reached the Russian market. The Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance last year banned more batches of plums and apples. In all cases of prohibition, Rosselkhoznadzor said that Grapholitha molesta Busck had been detected.  

(Reporter V. Bercu, editor A. Raileanu)