The Russian Federal Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance Authority, Rosselkhoznadzor will ban the import of tomato and pepper fruits from Kashkadarya province of Uzbekistan fom December 11 "in order to preserve phytosanitary well-being," the authority said in a statement.

The measure was taken due to the detection of the tomato brown rugose fruit virus in a batch of fruits that arrived from the Uzbek manufacturer Sunny Land Export (Kashkadarya province) accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the National Organization for Quarantine and Plant Protection of Uzbekistan (NOQPP of Uzbekistan).

Earlier, the Rosselkhoznadzor had already imposed a ban on the import of Uzbek tomatoes and peppers due to the detection of brown wrinkle virus in products - from November 26 from the Fergana province and from December 4 from the Navoi province. Later, the import of all plant products from the Fergana province was banned due to the discovery of a khapra beetle in a batch of dried apricots.

Tomato brown rugose fruit virus, spotted wilting of tomatoes and pepino mosaic are absent in the List of Quarantine Objects of the Eurasian Economic Union, however, "given the serious harmfulness of these viruses for greenhouse crops in Russia," the Rosselkhoznadzor from July 27, as a temporary quarantine phytosanitary measure the requirement of their absence in seeds, seedlings and fruits of tomato and pepper coming from exporting countries.

“The requirement will remain in effect until these viruses are included in the List of Quarantine Objects of the EAEU. Meanwhile, the department appealed to the Eurasian Economic Commission with a request to promptly consider the issue of supplementing the List with the specified harmful organisms, ” the statement said.

Rosselkhoznadzor explains that the brown wrinkle virus infects tomatoes, peppers and all types of nightshades, as well as tobacco, eggplant and cauliflower.

“No commercial tomato variety is resistant to this virus. In the event of the spread of this disease on the territory of the country, serious damage to vegetable crops could be caused. The virus can cause a loss of up to 70% of the crop,” the statement concluded.