Russia bars potato from Bangladesh

Russia has temporarily stopped importing potatoes from Bangladesh due to food safety and disease risks, a senior official said yesterday.

Russia imposed the bar after a team visited Dhaka early last month to assess Bangladesh's capacity in controlling plant diseases and exporting disease-free potatoes.

"We have taken the Russian decision positively as its temporary restriction will enable us to improve our phytosanitary system to meet Russian and European standards," said Anwar Faruque, director general of the agriculture ministry's seed wing.

"We have already taken steps to upgrade our systems and infrastructure to export disease-free potatoes and vegetables."

Of the 70,000 tonnes of potato exports in the current fiscal year, 14,000 tonnes were shipped to Russia. 

Bangladesh exported more than 20,000 tonnes of potato to Russia -- out of a total of 103,000 tonnes in fiscal 2013-14, according to the agriculture ministry.

The Russian authority suggested upgrading the phytosanitary system, security measures to prevent use of fake phytosanitary certificates and proper inspection at ports to ensure shipment of safe agricultural produce.

Russian agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor said a visit to the South Asian country in April 6-11 showed that Bangladesh did not give enough security to prevent the entry of bacterium Ralstonia solanacearum, according to FreshFruitPortal.com, an online portal on the fruit industry.

The agency cited repeated detections of the quarantine threat, and therefore, will be implementing a temporary ban on the crop of Bangladeshi origin on May 6, said FreshFruitPortal.com.