Russian watchdog finds illegal schemes to ship quarantinable goods from Kazakhstan

MOSCOW. Oct 30 (Interfax) - Russian plant and animal health watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor has found illegal schemes to ship quarantinable products from Kazakhstan using the information of companies not involved in foreign trade activities.

The agency said it found the "unlawful use by the State Inspection Committee in the Agro-industrial Complex of the details of more than 100 firms that do not conduct foreign trade activities when processing phytosanitary certificates for export to Russia."

This practice was used for uncontrolled movement of plant products in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) in order to intentionally evade phytosanitary inspections at the place of delivery, Rosselkhoznadzor said.

"This fraudulent scheme facilitated the transport of plant products with undetermined phytosanitary status from Kazakhstan through the Eurasian Economic Union, as well as the distribution of quarantinable objects throughout the Customs Union," the agency said.

Rosselkhoznadzor said "such illegal actions by the Kazakh side set the stage for tax evasion, and also distort the actual trade turnover of agricultural products between the countries." Over the two years that the invalid phytosanitary certificates were used, more than 120,000 tonnes of plant products were imported from Kazakhstan and a total of 260,000 tonnes of fruit and vegetable products were not presented for inspection at their point of destination.

"Rosselkhoznadzor has many complaints from Russian participants in foreign economic activities about the use of their data by the Kazakh side to conduct illegal business activities. Rosselkhoznadzor and the authorized agencies of the Russian Federation must ascertain the goals of the use of this scheme by the Kazakh side," the agency said.

Rosselkhoznadzor imposed a temporary ban on imports of a number of agricultural products from Kazakhstan, including tomatoes and peppers certified by the country, sunflower seeds for planting from third countries, and Kazakh fresh melons, wheat, lentils and flax seeds, as of October 17 due to repeated discovery of quarantinable pests.