Russia could lift all of the restrictions imposed on Turkish companies for tomato exports to the country as of May 1, Russia's agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor announced Friday.
According to a statement by the Federal Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance Service, it said, in accordance with the guarantees to be provided by Turkey's Food, Agriculture and Livestock Ministry, the import restrictions on tomatoes from Turkish companies could be lifted as of May 1.
In October last year, Russia signed a decree lifting its restrictions on the import of tomatoes from Turkey beginning Nov. 1, 2017. However, Moscow implemented an import quota.
The statement on Friday also noted that the importation of tomatoes would be decided on a regional basis instead of individual companies. Meanwhile, the agricultural watchdog said in a statement earlier this week that five more Turkish companies will be allowed to export tomatoes to the country as of April 24. The country has allowed tomato imports from a total of 15 Turkish companies since March 29.
It started importing tomatoes from Turkey in November. Initially, only four local companies were able to sell 50,000 tons of tomatoes to Russia. The ban on Turkish agricultural products was placed after Turkey shot down a Russian military jet over an airspace violation in November 2015. Following the normalization of relations between the two countries, Russia gradually lifted the restrictions in question.
