Azernews.Az

By Kamila Aliyeva

Rosselkhoznadzor has conducted several inspections of Turkish tomato producers.

These materials are still being considered, according to the agency’s spokeswoman Yulia Melano, RIA Novosti reported.

"The inspection materials of tomato production enterprises are under consideration of the Federal Service. As soon as any decision is taken, we will publish relevant information on our official website," she said.

In late 2016-early 2017, Rosselkhoznadzor carried out a number of inspections of Turkish enterprises producing plant products, including tomatoes.

Melano recalled that from September 1, Rosselkhoznadzor, based on the results of the analysis of materials received during the inspections, found it possible to remove restrictions on certain types of products, although some enterprises and tomatoes were not included in this list.

Currently, there are two types of restrictions with respect to Turkish tomatoes.

One of them was introduced by the government of the country. The second is a technical ban, introduced by the Rosselkhoznadzor in connection with the detection of contaminated quarantineable products coming to Russia from Turkey. The ban was introduced on July 4, 2016.

In 2016 Russia imposed a number of economic sanctions on Turkey, including the suspension of visa-free travel to Russia for Turkish citizens, limits on Turkish residents and companies doing business in Russia and bans on import of Turkish products.

Russia dropped restrictions on Turkish citrus fruits in late 2016 and both nations signed a memorandum agreeing to lift the vast majority of the bilateral trade restrictions laid down in 2015. However, the Russian ban on Turkish tomato imports still remains in place.

Russia says that the reason lies in Russian agriculturists, who invested a large amount of money in the national agriculture during tensions between Russia and Turkey and who are still waiting for the profit.

The ban on the tomato import is considered to be the most negative for Turkey since Russia was the largest market for the Turkish tomato export with annual profit amounting to billions of dollars.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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