On July 17, Rosselkhoznadzor held telephone conversations with representatives of the General Customs Administration of the People's Republic of China.
The Rosselkhoznadzor reported that in June-July 2020, it detected five cases of infection of potatoes imported from China with a quarantine disease for Russia - brown rot. Earlier, the Russian department has already informed about its concern about repeated cases of detection of quarantine pests in potatoes from the PRC.
In this regard, the Rosselkhoznadzor appealed to its Chinese colleagues with a request to supply products only from zones or areas free from pathogens of quarantine diseases. The Russian side emphasized that similar rules apply to all countries importing potatoes and other plant products in the Russian Federation.
Representatives of the PRC General Customs Department noted the friendly and fruitful nature of relations between the services and said that an investigation of the indicated situation is currently underway, which will include inspections of enterprises supplying potatoes to Russia. Also, the Chinese colleagues notified the Rosselkhoznadzor about the existing fact of falsification of the phytosanitary certificate by one of the potato suppliers, in respect of which measures will be taken in accordance with Chinese law.
The Chinese colleagues added that in 2020, control of potato exports to Russia was tightened. However, in connection with new cases of product contamination, additional measures will be applied.