Russia repeals the ban on Turkish agriculture products import

Russia repeals the ban on Turkish agriculture products import, including lettuce, iceberg salad, courgettes, pumpkins and peppers, said the Agriculture Minister Aleksandr Tkachyov. The decision was taken after a check of Turkish companies by the Russian sanitary services.
The minister also added that the Russian exporters of beef and poultry are allowed to export on the Turkish market, and the abolition of the restrictions should be bilateral.
Earlier, the Plant Health Inspectorate banned Turkish imports of certain categories of agriculture products - tomatoes, peppers, pomegranates, eggplants, lettuce, courgettes and pumpkins.
Aleksandr Tkachyov noted that the resumption of tomato imports from Turkey is not excluded, and the issue will be discussed in September at a bilateral meeting. He pointed out that seasonal vegetable production ends at autumn and a deficit that local producers can not fully cover, but imports are compensated by delivering tomatoes from Azerbaijan and Morocco anyway.
The first meeting of the Russian-Turkish Executive Committee on Agriculture will be held on September 14, when a wide range of issues will be discussed, including tomato imports.
From January 1, 2016, against the backdrop of complicated political relations, Russia introduced a ban on imports of a number of Turkish agriculture products. Orange, mandarins, grapes, apples, pears, peaches, apricots and nectarines, plums, strawberries entered into the list. Under the constraints fell also tomatoes, cucumbers, cauliflower and broccoli, asparagus, as well as frozen meat and offal of turkeys and domestic fowls, salt and chewing gum.
Moreover, due to phytosanitary reasons, imports from Turkey of pepper, pomegranates, aubergines, salads, courgettes and pumpkins were banned.
In October 2016, Russia partially revoked the embargo on Turkish agricultural goods and ordered the import of a number of fruits. In March, the Russian government lifted the ban on imports of chewing gum, salt, onion, cabbage, broccoli and carnations from Turkey.
Aleksandr Tkachyov told earlier that the abolition of the Russian embargo on Turkish fruit and vegetable imports should be discussed simultaneously with Turkey's abolition of restrictions on meat and dairy products from Russia.