As EastFruit has already reported, the ban on the supply of apples, pears and stone fruits from China has led to an increase in prices for these products in the Asian part of Russia. Now potatoes and citrus fruits may also be banned.
The Rosselkhoznadzor may introduce a ban on the import of citrus and potatoes from China due to the identification of quarantine pests. This is stated in the message of the department.
“In 2019, seven cases of detection of quarantine pests in citrus fruits (oriental fruit fly and polyphagous humpback fly) and two cases of detection in batches of potatoes (spindle tuber viroid and golden potato nematode) were identified. In this regard, the Rosselkhoznadzor is forced to strengthen quarantine phytosanitary control over the import of citrus fruits and potatoes from the PRC and in the near future will hold negotiations with the Chinese side, where it will warn about the possibility of introducing temporary restrictions on the supply of these products to the Russian Federation from the People's Republic of China ", - reported in the Rosselkhoznadzor.
As the department explained, the Rosselkhoznadzor in connection with the identification of quarantine objects from August 10, 2019 introduced temporary restrictions on the import of stone fruits and pome crops from China to Russia. In the period from October 29 to November 9, 2019, a delegation of the Rosselkhoznadzor paid a visit to get acquainted with the system of quarantine phytosanitary control of regulated products. According to the Rosselkhoznadzor, during the visit it was established that the system of quarantine phytosanitary control in China is not effective enough. The department added that a similar situation exists with citrus fruits and potatoes.
According to the Rosselkhoznadzor, for 11 months of 2019, 38,6 thousand tons of potatoes, 432 thousand tons of vegetables, 240,6 thousand tons of fruits, including 151,2 thousand tons of citrus fruits, were delivered to Russia from China.
According to the Federal Customs Service, Egypt is the leading supplier of potatoes to Russia - in 2018, potato imports from this country amounted to 361,4 thousand tons (62,9% of the total import volume). China ranks fourth in this indicator (53,1 thousand tons, the share is 9,2%). Also, in 2018, China supplied 180 thousand 076 tons of citrus fruits to the Russian Federation out of the total supply of 1 million 682 thousand 729 tons.