The Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision recently made an announcement: The Federal Service consistently discovered the presence of harmful insects such as the oriental fruit moth in fruit exported from China. The Federal Service therefore announced a temporary restriction on the import of pears and stone fruit from China. This measure will take effect on August 10th, 2019. The Federal Service currently is currently preparing for official negotiations with the General Administration of Customs China (GACC). They hope trade will resume after both parties have reached a solution.
This announcement has undoubtedly upset import and export companies involved in pear and stone fruit trade between China and Russia. The temporary prohibition will delay trade.
Pears
People in the industry state that the announcement came too suddenly. Many companies have already begun preparing the fruit orders for Russian clients and they have no other option but to cancel these orders. This is the case for 5kg boxes of Chinese white pears from Hebei, which are in great demand at the moment. Of course, this situation is not limited to a single company from Hebei. Other companies have no choice but to redirect their attention from Russia to other foreign markets.
The price of pears dropped as a result of this development at the border. However, there are only 10 days left in the production season of fresh Chinese white pears. After that, only Chinese white pears from storage are available. The price is then expected to rise again.
At the same time, another representative stated that he is not too worried about this situation. This prohibition is only temporary and will be lifted when the quality of Chinese fruit is examined. In the meantime the trade volume and the price of products exported from China to Russia will decline, but this is only temporary.