Russia, Iran to sign memorandum on safe use of pesticides, agrochemicals

MOSCOW. Feb 2 (Interfax) - Russia and Iran plan to sign a memorandum on the safe use of pesticides and agrochemicals in agriculture, the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision (Rosselkhoznadzor) said after its deputy chief Anton Karmazin held video talks with the recently appointed head of the Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection, Hossein Aghdam.

Rosselkhoznadzor asked to expedite the signing of the memorandum and increase control over the presence of residual pesticides and agrochemicals in Iranian fruit and vegetable consignments, a statement said. The Service sent relevant notifications to Iran earlier.

For his part, Aghdam offered reassurances that every measure will be taken to ensure compliance with the Russian requirements, the statement said.

Russia and Iran are longtime trading partners keen on bilateral supplies of quality safe products, the two sides said.

Iran exports fruit and vegetables to Russia. Exports of kiwi, cabbage, water melons, oranges, eggplants, lettuce, tangerines, dates and others rose last year compared with 2021: there was a 18.5-fold increase in cabbage supplies, from 3,800 tonnes to 71,900 tonnes, and kiwi rose from 61,800 to 85,000 tonnes, i.e. almost by 40 per cent 40%.