Russian team to visit SL to check plant quarantine

A team of technical experts from Russia would visit Sri Lanka in late January-early February 2018 for familiarization with the current plant quarantine procedure in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan Embassy in Russia said.

In a statement following Russia’s decision to lift restrictions imposed on Sri Lankan tea imports, the Embassy said the decision has been made after understanding the concerns made by the Sri Lankan side.

It said the nine member Sri Lankan technical delegation had a fruitful discussion with the Head of the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor), Deputy Head of Rosselkhoznadzor in charge of phytosanitary matters, and other officials of Rosselkhoznadzor on December 25.

“This meeting was also represented by the Russian Ministry of Agriculture; representatives of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Economic Development and RusTeaCoffee Association of Russia. During the discussion, the Russian side indicated that they were satisfied with the measures proposed by the Sri Lankan side to ensure the shipping of pest-free plant products consignments to Russia,” it said.

Sri Lanka has indicated that there are no records found since 1978 of this identified pest and this is a probable contamination due to the use of disinfested container.

“However, Sri Lanka assured that it would take stringent measures to further strengthen the current phytosanitary procedures to avoid any repetition. The letter addressed to President Vladimir Putin by President Maithripala Sirisena in this regard made a great impact on the positive resolution of the situation,” the embassy said.