Russia bans import of tomatoes from Uzbekistan’s Fergana region

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov. 26

By Klavdiya Romakayeva - Trend:

Russia's Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) has introduced a ban from November 26 on the import of tomatoes and peppers in Russian from the Fergana region due to the detection of the brown rugose fruit virus, Trend reports citing Rosselkhoznadzor.

Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV), spotted wilting of tomatoes and pepino mosaics, is absent in the Unified List of Quarantine Objects of the Eurasian Economic Union, approved by the decision of the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission.

Taking into account the harmfulness of these viruses for greenhouse vegetable growing in Russia, the Rosselkhoznadzor on July 27, 2020, introduced the requirement to ensure their absence in seeds, seedlings and fruits of tomato and pepper coming to Russia from exporting countries as a temporary quarantine phytosanitary measure.

The requirement will remain in effect until these viruses are included in the Unified List of Quarantine Objects of the EAEU.

At the same time, the department applied to the Eurasian Economic Commission with a request to promptly consider the issue of supplementing the Unified List with the indicated pests.

ToBRFV, a member of the Tobamovirus genus, infects vegetable crops, causing leaf spots and deformation of the fruit. Infection can remain in seeds, plant debris and contaminated soil.

The main carriers of the virus are usually tomato and pepper.

If an infected fruit gets into an industrial greenhouse, it can lead to the complete death of all plants in it, which will only take a week.

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