Russia to ban zucchini, pumpkin imports from Turkey on Thu

MOSCOW, May 16 (PRIME) -- Russia plans to ban zucchini and pumpkin imports from Turkey from Thursday, but it will not restrict lemon, grapefruit and date imports from the country, Yulia Shvabauskene, a deputy director at the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Oversight, told PRIME on Monday.

On May 12, the service’s Director Sergei Dankvert said that the service may ban imports of all Turkish plant products from Monday due to systematic violations of phytosanitary requirements and unwillingness to improve the situation. Earlier on Monday, he said that Turkish authorities are engaged in talks with the Russian service regarding quality of plant products.

“As of today, the decision was made in such a way that we plan to impose temporary restrictions on zucchini and pumpkin imports from around May 19. The exact date has not been defined yet, but it will happen later this week,” Shvabauskene said.

Russia banned imports of some fruit and vegetables from Turkey from January 1, which was widely viewed as part of retaliatory measures after Ankara downed a Su-24 jet in November 2015.

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