The Rosselkhoznadzor held video negotiations with the Food Safety Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan on July 27, 2021.
The Rosselkhoznadzor mentioned two cases of detection of the potato consignments infected with Ralstonia solanacearum (Ralstonia solanacearum (Smith) Yabuuchi et al), quarantine pest in the EAEU member states, during the meeting.
The Rosselkhoznadzor addressed the Azerbaijani colleagues with a request to carry out investigation to find out the violation cause as well as to enhance control of the vegetables supplied to the Russian Federation. According to the EAEU requirements, potato supplies to Russia are authorized only from the zones, places, production sites that are free from the above-said pest. Therefore, export of the potatoes from the production sites where Ralstonia solanacearum has been detected is unacceptable. The Russian party warned that it would have to impose temporary restrictions on potato supplies from Azerbaijan in case further detection of the pest in the potato consignments dispatched to Russia.
Besides, the Rosselkhoznadzor stated that it would impose ban on supplies from the establishments dispatching infected consignments in case of quarantine pest detection, namely tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV), in tomatoes imported in Russia. The Russian authority addressed to the Azerbaijani colleagues a request to enhance control of the tomatoes dispatched to Russia in order to prevent such violations. The Azerbaijani Food Safety Agency representatives have stated that they carry out monitoring in the country territory for detection of possible ToBRFV foci and for prevention supplies of the infected products to the Russian Federation.
The parties discussed a draft agreement on cooperation in safe pesticide and agrochemical handling between the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) and the Food Safety Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The parties will exchange technical information on this issue.
Source: fsvps.gov.ru