Russia has agreed to lift restrictions on agricultural products, including fresh fruits and vegetables, entering the country from the Netherlands, Dutch industry body Productschap Tuinbouw reports.
According to the group, Dutch Secretary of State for Agriculture Hans Bleker met with the Russian Agriculture Minister Elena Skrynnik at the recent Green Week trade fair in Berlin to discuss the removal of a ban on various fruit and vegetable imports imposed last year on the basis of phytosanitary restrictions.
Russian authorities had expressed particular concerned over a new system of food safety inspections in the Netherlands which was introduced in 2007 and which transferred import and export monitoring from the government's Plant Protection Service to private organisations as part of the so-called Project Plantkeur.
Once the ban is lifted, a move which is expected to take place around six months from now, exports to Russia will be inspected by the newly established Dutch Food Safety Authority (nVWA).
Productschap Tuinbouw estimated the value of the Dutch export trade to Russia for fruit, vegetables, ornamental plants, meat and animals to be somewhere in the region of €600m-€700m.
Total agricultural exports from the Netherlands to Russia were worth around €1.1bn in 2009, down from €1.5bn in 2008, according to the group.
