Belarusian government agencies involved in smuggling apples to Russia

• 29.10.2014, 7:41

Russia's agricultural watchdog Rosselkhhoznadzor revealed new smuggling schemes through Belarus.

Russia continues to receive banned EU products, charter97.org learnt from Rosselkhoznadzor (the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance).

The agency revealed new illegal schemes of delivering banned EU fruit and vegetable to Russia. The products that were to be delivered from Belarus to Kazakhstan through Russia were sold in Russia. The Main State Inspection on Seed Farming, Quarantine and Plant Protection of Belarus was involved in the scheme.

“On October 24, a truck carrying 20 tonnes of Polish vegetable and fruit (apples, tomatoes, cauliflower) was moving from Belarus to Kazakhstan with a phytosanitry certificated issued by the Main State Inspection on Seed Farming, Quarantine and Plant Protection of Belarus. The truck passed a phytosanitary checkpoint in Pskov region near the Belarusian-Russian border, which is proved by the stamp of the Tver and Pskov regional department of Rosselkhoznadzor on the back side of the phytosanitary certificate,” Rosselkhoznadzor reports.

Though the distance between Pskov and Petropavlovsk (Kazakhstan) is more than 3,000 kilometres, the same truck carrying the same range of Polish products with the same phytosanitary certificate with Rosselkhoznadzor's stamp tried to enter Russia's Bryansk region three days later, on October 27, “to transit products to Kazakhstan”.

“Both the violation of the transit rules and the second use of the phytosanitary certificate are gross violations of international laws and the legislation of the Customs Union, Russia and Belarus regarding plant quarantine. The cargo was detained. An investigation against those involved in the scheme of illegal bringing fruit and vegetable into Russia is under way,” the Russian phytosanitary agency informs.