Russian watchdog head to negotiate over lifting EU potato ban Nov 15
MOSCOW. Nov 8 (Interfax) - The chief of Russia's Federal Veterinary and Phytosanitary Oversight Service (Rosselkhoznadzor), Sergei Dankvert, and the deputy head of the European Commission's Directorate General for Health and Consumers (DG SANCO), Ladislav Miko, will next week discuss the lifting of Russia's ban on importing potatoes from the European Union and product safety guarantees that European countries can provide.
The talks will be held in Germany on November 15, Rosselkhoznadzor representative Alexei Alekseyenko said during a press conference given at Interfax's main offices in downtown Moscow on Friday.
"This is to say that the potato should be produced in zones free of quarantine organisms. We, of course, are most worried about golden nematodes, which we find most of all in deliveries of Dutch potatoes," he said. "I think the negotiations will be successful, because they have received our requirements ahead of time and have worked on this issue. That is, the picture should be clarified at these talks," he said.
Russia might lift its ban on imported potatoes from "certain sections of certain countries," with product still being monitored at the border, Alekseyenko said. The situation is complicated by the fact that inspection is done at the external border of the Customs Union, he said.
The ban on the import of seed and food potatoes from the EU has been in place since July 1, 2013 due to violations of phytosanitary requirements by suppliers.
