Russia and Turkey intend to strengthen oversight in deliveries of fruit and vegetables - Rosselkhoznadzor

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - Russia and Turkey intend to strengthen oversight in mutual trade of regulated products, primarily fruits and vegetables, Russian agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor said in a statement.

The main vectors of this work were discussed during negotiations with representatives of the General Directorate of Food and Control of the Ministry of Agriculture of Turkey, which were held via video link. "There was a discussion of issues relating to optimization of the phytosanitary control system for mutual deliveries of regulated products," the agency said.

Turkey is one of the main suppliers of fruit and vegetable products to Russia, Rosselkhoznadzor said. About 1.5 million tonnes of fresh fruits and vegetables are shipped annually. However, during quarantine phytosanitary control in 2022, 11 types of goods subject to EAEU quarantine were discovered in 678 cases. In order to stabilize quarantine phytosanitary conditions in deliveries of Turkish fruits and vegetables, the participants discussed, in particular, the possibility of auditing Turkish laboratories and attestation of producers and packing stations that assemble shipments of fruit and vegetable products to Russia. Rosselkhoznadzor believes that such control system will prevent shipments of unsafe regulated products.

Negotiators also expressed concern over the detection of deliveries of products under forged Turkish certificates in 2020-2022. "In order to avoid a repeat of these violations, our Turkish colleagues suggested using a system to verify phytosanitary certificates for deliveries of Turkish products to Russia," the statement said.