On December 4, 2023, officials from Rosselkhoznadzor discovered a quarantine pest, the South American tomato moth (Tuta absoluta (Meyrick)), in an 18-ton shipment of fresh tomatoes from Turkmenistan during a quarantine phytosanitary control at the temporary storage warehouse of LLC SWH "Service Product" in the Orenburg region. This pest was previously unknown in the Eurasian Economic Union.
Confirmation of the quarantine pest's presence came through laboratory analysis conducted by experts from the Orenburg branch of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Grain Quality Assessment Center." In compliance with quarantine legislation, importing the affected tomato shipment was prohibited, and the responsible party faced administrative consequences.
This incident marked the ninth occurrence in 2023 where Rosselkhoznadzor officials detected the South American tomato moth during inspections of sub-quarantine products imported from Turkmenistan, totaling over 108 tons.
Source: fsvps.gov.ru