Service: Russia, Turkey to negotiate food trade in June

MOSCOW, May 4 (PRIME) -- Russia’s Federal Veterinary and Phytosanitary Oversight Service will negotiate imports of agricultural products with the Turkish colleagues in June, the authority said in a statement on Thursday.

President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday after a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Moscow and Ankara will abolish all mutual trade restrictions except for Turkish tomatoes.

The Federal Veterinary and Phytosanitary Oversight Service said, “The issue will be discussed during the negotiations between the Russian Federal Veterinary and Phytosanitary Oversight Service and the Food, Agriculture and Livestock Ministry of the Republic of Turkey scheduled for June 2017.”

The service said that since it had abolished orange and mandarin import restrictions in October, it detected 12 cases of contamination of the fruit and 2 cases of grapefruit and quince contamination with the Mediterranean fruit fly, which is prohibited in Russia.

Russian experts will check the quality of Turkish peppers, lettuce, pumpkins and marrow squash from May 15 to ensure they meet Russian phytosanitary standards.

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