Russia to ban import of pears from Serbia from February 14, 2018

Rosselkhoznadzor, the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance of Russia, has banned the import of Serbian pears beginning with February 14, including import through third countries, says the Service’s website, as reported by Sputnik.

Rosselkhoznadzor said that it had reported to the Serbian Plant Protection Directorate several times its concerns over the quality of this fruit from Serbia.

– Beginning with February 14, 2018, Rosselkhoznadzor is implementing a temporary limit on the import of fresh pears from Serbia to Russia, including the import through third parties, until an expert conversation is held to clarify the situation with the competent institutions of the state – the competent institution said.

The Ministry of Agriculture reacted to the decision by saying that the export has not been banned, but temporarily paused until expert teams on both sides conduct the necessary consultations.

They said that pears were not exported to the Russian market in February and that several smaller shipments took place in January. They added that the peak period for export of pears was September through December.

– The Phytosanitary Inspection of the Plant Protection Directorate expects to resolve all the issues through intensive communication with the Russian side. Through full cooperation of both sides, including joint monitoring carried out on mutual inspection points, the Russian side will be able to witness the knowledge and the expertise of our inspectors, as well as the capacities of the producers and the exporters - the ministry pointed out.

Rosselkhoznadzor

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Plant Protection Directorate