The Russian bureau for food safety, Rosselkhoznadzor, has found potato cyst nematode (globodera rostochiensis) in a 55-tonne batch of table potatoes from Belgium, according to FreshPlaza.
Rosselkhoznadzor warned that if further finds were made, 'restrictions could follow'.
During the summer, Russia closed the market for fruit and vegetables carrying a Dutch certificate for phytosanitary checks made by the Kwalitetscontrolebureau (KCB), causing exports to collapse.
Since this time, Dutch traders have reportedly been using Belgian ports to send produce to Russia.
However, this latest discovery of cyst nematode, found in nine groups of potatoes, has rocked Russia's confidence in the Belgian inspection services.
According to Rosselkhoznadzor, five of these groups had a certificate from Belgian inspection agency FAVV, while the remainder had Dutch and French certification.
France has already been warned by Rosselkhoznadzor, according to FreshPlaza. Last month, two shiploads of French potatoes were reportedly found to have the same pest, while in September a batch of peaches was found to have the fruit moth grapholitha molestain.
'We have our doubts about the expertise with which the French inspection services carry out the phytosanitary checks,' the Russian bureau stated.
