A group of leading Spanish fresh produce exporters have met with government officials in Moscow to urge an easing of Russia’s strict phytosanitary import controls, amid strong interest in Spain in the net importer of fruit and vegetables.
The trade delegation, which was comprised of 35 companies from Murcia and headed by export consortium Hortiberia, met with Alexander Baburin, minister of health for the city of Moscow, to argue for greater flexibility regarding import controls.
In a statement, Hortiberia managing director Fermín Sánchez Navarro said that the group of exporters had called for Russia to be “more flexible over its policy on phytosanitary matters with Spanish horticultural producers”, who he said had high quality standards.
However, the visit to Moscow, which was attended by the president of the regional government of Murcia, Ramón Luis Valcárcel, and Murcia’s minister of agriculture, Antonio Cerdá, also had the objective of opening new trade avenues to the region’s exports.
Mr Sánchez said the visit gave the Spanish companies an opportunity to “reinforce their relationships” with major importers and retailers in Russia, noting that one of the most significant, Carrefour, had recently arrived in the country.
He said: “One of the keys to increasing partnerships and to leave to one side the economic uncertainty of the crisis is to improve avenues of distribution.”
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