Russian food safety regulator may limit crop product imports from Tajikistan
MOSCOW. Nov 21 (Interfax) - Russian food safety regulator Rosselkhoznadzor may impose restrictions on crop product imports from Tajikistan.
The regulator said it had discovered 154 violations in supplies of crop products from Tajikistan from January to September, which Rosselkhoznadzor is very concerned about.
Russia discovered two types of pests on its quarantine list: Callosobruchus spp. (107 cases) and Cuscuta (47 cases). They were discovered in products coming from Tajikistan in hand baggage (152 cases) and in two commercial consignments accompanied by phytosanitary certification, allocated by the Tajik Agriculture Ministry's State Inspectorate on Phytosanitary and Plant Quarantine. The certificates guaranteed that the contents met Russian phytosanitary requirements.
Rosselkhoznadzor said the risk of penetration from Tajikistan of pests on the Customs Union quarantine list is growing because Tajikistan has announced it does not have Callosobruchus spp., on its territory. This means that unchecked products from third countries are being brought in from the Tajik side of the border, the regulator said.
"To avoid a temporary ban on imports of all types of crop products from Tajikistan, Rosselkhoznadzor has asked the Tajik Agriculture Ministry's State Inspectorate on Phytosanitary and Plant Quarantine to carry out an official investigation of the violations and take measures against those responsible for allowing them to occur," Rosselkhoznadzor said.
If the violations are not resolved, restrictions on the import of crop products from Tajikistan may be imposed, Rosselkhoznadzor Press Secretary Alexei Alekseenko told Interfax.