MOSCOW: Russia has lifted ban on import of Pakistani food products from February 24, said a notification of the Russians Federation Service of Sanitary and Phytosanitary issued in Moscow.
The ban was imposed in September last year by the Russian Federal Service Rosselkhoznadzor in view of unsatisfactory compliance of sanitary rules and procedures by Pakistani exporters.
In this connection, officials of Pakistani embassy in Moscow held several meetings with the head of Rosselkhoznadzor, Dankvert Sergey Alexeevich for the removal of ban from all Pakistani agricultural products.
As a result of these meetings, the partial lifting of the ban had been agreed upon as a first step and the import of the citrus allowed forthwith by the Russian side.
This partial lifting at the start of citrus season was not only unprecedented but very beneficial for Pakistani exporters who annually export Citrus worth $20 million to Russia, much liked by the Russian consumers.
In this regard, a delegation of Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance visited Pakistan in January to resolve all the issues related to the import of Pakistani Agricultural products to Russian Federation and to enhance collaboration between two countries in this field.
In a related development the Phytosanitary Surveillance informed the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, Government of Pakistan through Embassy of Pakistan in Moscow regarding its decision of lifting the temporary restriction on all plant products of high phytosanitary risk from Pakistan except Potatoes from February 24
It is hoped that the ban on potatoes import will be soon uplifted as the embassy is actively engaged with the Russian authorities to resolve this issue.
