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The government of Ecuador will send a mission to Russia to overcome the controversy created following the Russian authorities’ request to suspend five Ecuadorian banana exporting companies due to the alleged presence of the humpback fly (megaselia scalaris) in some shipments.
The fact was announced this Thursday in a statement from Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador after holding a meeting with the ambassador of Russia in Ecuador, Vladimir Sprinchan.
LOOK HERE: Russia bans imports of bananas from Ecuador after Quito’s decision to send old Soviet weapons to the US
The Ecuadorian delegation will travel on Sunday made up of representatives from the Ministries of Foreign Trade and Agriculture, as well as members of the Phyto and Zoosanitary Regulation and Control Agency (Agroquality). In Moscow They will have the support of the Ecuadorian embassy in Russia.
O Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador He emphasized that this situation goes back six months, “when that country, through communications, informed the Ecuadorian authorities about the aforementioned banana phytosanitary problem”.
However, the request for the suspension of five banana companies in Ecuador that export this fruit to Russia came after it became known that the Ecuadorian government would deliver Soviet military equipment to U.Swhich in turn intends to send it to Ukraine as reinforcement for the war against Russia.
The Minister of Production, Foreign Trade, Investments and Fisheries, Sonsoles Garcíaalso ruled out on Wednesday that the request to suspend exports for these five companies is a retaliation for the agreement with the United States, which in exchange will deliver new military equipment valued at 200 million dollars to Ecuador.
“If there had been real retaliation, the origin of the fruit would have been suspended, which has not happened to this day.“, said the minister to the Teleamazonas channel.
The person responsible for the Production, Foreign Trade, Investment and Fisheries portfolio explained that “What happened in Russia dates back to 2018, when the Russian phytosanitary agency (Rosseljoznadzor) issued a first warning about the humpback fly to Agrocalidad.”.
Since then “There were constant notifications where Agrocalidad and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, in coordination with the Ministry of Production, refuted any presumption of cholera through these humpback flies, because Ecuador has been a cholera-free country since 2014.″García stated about this insect that generally lives in organic waste.
Agrocalidad insisted after the companies’ suspension request that reports of this insect do not pose a health risk to Russia.
The list of companies whose exports were banned by Russia is Agzulasa Cia, Don Carlos Frutas SA, Agroaereo Fruit Export SA, El Oro Agricultural Production Association (Asoproagroro) and banana merchant.
MORE INFORMATION: Russia denies that the Soviet military equipment that Ecuador wants to deliver to the United States is “scrap”.
Ecuador is the world’s largest exporter of bananas, with more than 6.5 million tons in 2023, according to statistics from the Banana Exporters Association of Ecuador (AEBE).
Of this volume, Russia constitutes the second destination market for Ecuadorian banana exports with 1.37 million tons in 2023, equivalent to 22.85% of the total, surpassed only by European Union (HUH).
The turnover of banana exports amounted to 3.255 million dollars between January and November 2023, of which 690 million dollars were destined for shipments to Russia, which has Ecuador as practically its only external supplier of bananas, representing 98% of its imports of this fruit.
Source: Elcomercio
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