Rosselkhoznadzor, Russia’s Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision, has announced imposing temporary restrictions on the imports of apples and pears from Belarus. The decision will come into effect on April, 12.
“Taking into account the fact that fruit and vegetable products having the unindentified phytosanitary status and forged certificates continue to be received from the Republic of Belarus, Rosselkhoznadzor has decided to impose temporary restrictions on supplies of apples and pears from Belarus starting April 12, 2019 until the current situation is resolved,” the statement reads.
Within the first week of April, 39 vehicles which were carrying sanctioned products and having no phytosanitary documents have been detained at the Russia-Belarus border. 36 of them were delivering apples and pears, the Russian watchdog says.
As reported earlier, amid the Kremlin’s disgruntlement over the situation, Belarus stopped certification of fruits and vegetables coming to Russia from third countries. The measure affected products that are included in the Russian sanctions list.
Rosselkhoznadzor stressed the agency did not receive reliable information about the volume of imports and the volume of goods that passed through the procedure of customs clearance in our country. This leads to falsification of the goods’ true country of origin, the Russian side added.
