The ban of apples from Bosnia and Herzogovina was implemented after it had been discovered that some of the apples being sent to Russia had actually come from Poland. Rosselkhoznadzor claims that the apples had been sent to BiH and had been repackaged and sent to Russia as a domestically grown product.
According to Bojan Kecman from the Ministry of Agriculture-Republic of Srpska, the Russian side seemed to be satisfied with everything that BiH has done to improve the system for issuing phytosanitary certificates and the form of the origin of apples. "We now have a complete access into the production of fruit and vegetable and exporters in the Russian Federation and we are fully prepared to guarantee that the system functions, as we have previously signed in the last year protocol."
"I am convinced that the final result regarding the export of apples to Russia will be favourable for us," said the Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Mirko Šarović, after his meeting in Moscow last week with the Federal Veterinary and Phytosanitary Inspection Service of the Russian Federation (Rosseljkhoznadzor)."I hope the ban will be lifted this year," said Šarović, while emphasizing that the Russian side intends, before the final abolition of the ban on the export of apples, to fully check that everything that all of the agreements have been met before giving its final decision.
Once this situation is cleared with Russia and trade is allowed to resume, growers in Bosnia and Herzegovina are expecting a good season.
"The orchards are currently in the flowering stage for most fruits, with the exception of apricots and peaches in some areas and we are expecting some good yields this year for apples, pears, plums, raspberries and grapes," Bojan concluded.
For more information:
Bojan Kecman
Ministry of Agriculture-Republic of Srpska
Tel: +387 65 742 293,
Email: b.kecman@mps.vladars.net
bojankecman@gmail.com