The Government of Ecuador will send a mission to Russia to overcome the controversy created after the request of the Russian authorities to suspend five Ecuadorian banana exporting companies due to the alleged presence of the humpback fly (megaselia scalaris) in some shipments.
This was announced this Thursday in a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador after holding a meeting with the Russian ambassador to Ecuador, Vladimir Sprinchan.
The Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry emphasized that this situation dates back six months, “when that country, through communications, informed the Ecuadorian authorities about said banana phytosanitary problem.”
However, the request to suspend five of Ecuador’s banana companies that export this fruit to Russia was made after it became known that the Ecuadorian Government is going to deliver Soviet military equipment to the United States, which 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 to those five companies is retaliation for the agreement with the United Stateswhich in exchange will deliver new military equipment valued at 200 million dollars to Ecuador.
Ecuador denies that weapons delivery is the problem
“If there was real retaliation, they would have suspended the origin of the fruit, something that has not happened to date,” the minister told the Teleamazonas channel.
The head of the Production, Foreign Trade, Investment and Fisheries portfolio explained that “what has happened with Russia dates back to 2018, where the Russian phytosinate agency (Rosseljoznadzor) made a first alert about the humpback fly to Agrocalidad (Agency of Regulation and Control of Phyto and Zoosanitary of Ecuador)».
Since then, “constant notifications have been made where Agrocalidad and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, in coordination with the Ministry of Production, have refuted any presumption of cholera through these humpback flies, because Ecuador has been a cholera-free country since 2014. », García stated regarding this insect that usually lives in organic waste.
Agrocalidad insisted after the request for suspension of the companies that the reports of this insect do not represent a health risk for Russia.
The list of companies whose exports have been banned by Russia are Agzulasa Cia, Don Carlos Fruit S.A., Agroaereo Fruit Export S.A., Association of Agricultural Production of El Oro (Asoproagroro) and Banana Marketer.
Largest exporter
Ecuador is the world’s leading banana exporter, with more than 6.5 million tons in 2023, according to statistics from the Association of Banana Exporters of Ecuador (AEBE).
Of that volume, Russia constitutes the second destination market for Ecuadorian banana exports with 1.37 million tons in 2023, equivalent to 22.85% of the totalonly surpassed by the European Union (EU).
The turnover of banana exports amounted between January and November 2023 to 3,255 million dollars, of which 690 million dollars were for shipments to Russia, which has Ecuador as practically its only external supplier of bananas, representing 98% of its imports of this fruit. EFE
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