ROSSELKHOZNADZOR PERMITS IMPORT OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES FROM GAGAUZIA TO RUSSIA

Rosselkhoznadzor has allowed the import of fruits and vegetables from the Gagauz Autonomous Region of Moldova into Russia. As reported by INFOTAG, a letter from Rosselkhoznadzor to the National Food Safety Agency (ANSA) of Moldova was published online by the authorities of the autonomy.

“Rosselkhoznadzor considers it possible, under the guarantees of the National Food Safety Agency, to allow the import of fruits and vegetables into the territory of the Russian Federation from the administrative-territorial units of Moldova, starting from April 10, 2024, according to the attached list, with the obligatory indication in the phytosanitary certificate of the name of the producer of such products and their address. In case quarantine objects for the EAEU countries are detected in Moldovan sub-quarantine products, appropriate phytosanitary measures will be taken against specific producers,” the letter states.

The attached list includes 26 settlements of the Gagauz ATU (Autonomous Territorial Unit).

A temporary ban on the import of apples and other fruits and vegetables to Russia was introduced on August 15, 2022, regarding products from 31 districts of Moldova. Since December 4, 2023, Rosselkhoznadzor has again imposed an embargo on Moldovan agricultural products due to “ongoing systematic detections of quarantine objects in vegetables and fruits capable of causing multibillion-dollar damage to Russia's agricultural production.” However, imports into Russia from the left-bank districts of the Dniester were allowed.

At that time, ANSA stated that “Rosselkhoznadzor is using levers that contradict sanitary and phytosanitary principles and have a different purpose than protecting consumers and the agricultural industry of the Russian Federation.”