Russian technical team to visit SL in new year for plant quarantine procedure familiarisation

A team of technical experts from Russia is to visit Sri Lanka in late January to early February 2018 for familiarisation with the current plant quarantine procedure in Sri Lanka 

This visit was agreed during the bilateral talks held early this week in Moscow to resolve Russia’s ban on Ceylon tea, the Foreign Ministry said yesterday.

During the discussion, the Russian side indicated that it was satisfied with the measures proposed by its Sri Lankan counterparts to ensure the shipping of pest-free plant product consignments to Russia.

The Sri Lankans indicated that there were no records found since 1978 of this identified pest and this was a probable contamination due to the use of a disinfested container. However, Sri Lankan officials provided assurances that the country would take stringent measures to further strengthen current phytosanitary procedures to avoid any possible repeat of the incident. Understanding the concerns of the Sri Lankans and the way forward, the Russians indicated that they had made the decision to lift the temporary restrictions earlier imposed on the import of plant origin products from Sri Lanka before 30 December. 

The letter addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin by Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena in this regard had a great impact on the positive resolution of the situation.

On a general note, the average time in reconsidering such restrictions on imports imposed by the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance ranges from three-four months. However, in this case, it took only one week for Russia to lift its restriction thanks to the fast and fruitful coordination and interaction of the relevant parties.

The Foreign Ministry in its statement said a nine-member Sri Lankan technical delegation led by the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tea Board, which included the Director General of the Department of Agriculture, joined by the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Russia, 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 25 December.

This meeting was also attended by representatives from the Russian Ministry of Agriculture, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russian Ministry of Economic Development and the RusTeaCoffee Association of Russia (Russian Tea and Coffee Association).

The timely interaction of Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Plantation Industries, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sri Lanka Tea Board, Sri Lanka Tea Research Board and the National Plant Quarantine Service was highly effective in ensuring the temporary restriction was lifted in the shortest possible time.

The Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Russia and the Embassy of Sri Lanka said they were pleased to witness the positive resolution of the issue in the shortest possible time.