Russia bans import of Ukrainian soy, soy husk, sunflowers and corn starting August 1, 2014. Onions await their turn.
“Interfax-Ukrayina” interviewed Alexander Isayev, the head of the phytosanitary inspection of the Russian Agricultural Service, on this matter.
According to him, the ban resulted from numerous violations of Russian phytosanitary standards, especially from contamination of the imported goods with the seeds of quarantine weeds.
“On several occasions we have expressed our concern regarding the contamination of the produce with the seeds of quarantine plants. We have warned our Ukrainian colleagues about possible restrictions on import because of this contamination. We proposed to discuss the situation over the phone, but have received no response from our Ukrainian colleagues,” – Isayev said.
“Moreover, they gave us an e-mail address for conversing with them, but have never replied to our emails,” – he added.
The Russian beureacrat also said that the ban may soon extend to onions.
“Just yesterday we prepared a notice, as golden nematode was found in the recent batch of onions imported from Ukraine. For now we will issue a notice, as this is the first time this happened. But if ti continues, onions will have to be banned as well, ” – he said.
Source
Translated by Mariya Shcherbinina
