Recently, the Russian State Duma passed a law aimed at strengthening pre-quarantine controls on plant products exported to Russia. The law allows for prior phytosanitary inspections of plant products proposed for export to Russia, thereby ensuring that they meet phytosanitary requirements before entering the country. The aim is to prevent plant products that do not meet quarantine, quality and safety standards from entering the Russian market.

Under the law, Russia will audit foreign laboratories to ensure that they are able to test plant products exported to Russia for pesticide residues and other hazards as required by Russian legislation. In addition, the law is aimed at optimizing the phytosanitary control process through bilateral agreements, reducing time and financial and material costs, and creating conditions conducive to a “seamless” quarantine phytosanitary control procedure to increase the supply of fruit and vegetable products.

The Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision (Rosselkhoznadzor) will conduct comprehensive audits of foreign testing laboratories (centers) responsible for conducting phytosanitary control.