Russian authorities have lifted the restriction on imports coming from Chilean salmon farmer Ventisqueros, Chile’s National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service Sernapesca announced on its website.
"This is the continuation of work that we have been reinforcing since February of this year, where we increase the exchange of information, holding a series of bilateral meetings of a technical nature in order to provide the maximum guarantees regarding the strict safety controls that we carry out as a sanitary authority in the field of aquaculture exports," Sernapesca Director Alicia Gallardo said.
Russian phytosanitary and veterinary service Rosselkhoznadzor had begun restricting certain salmon from Chile since November 2019 after Russian health authorities reportedly detected traces of crystal violet and antibiotics (oxytetracycline) in farmed salmon.
To overcome the impasse, in February 2020 Sernapesca’s Gallardo traveled to Russia to meet with Rosselkhoznadzor Director Sergey Dankvert, where both respective regulatory bodies reached a three-point agreement. After the visit, temporary import restrictions were lifted in March on four Chilean salmon farming plants, and the Russian regulator followed that action in June by freeing up AquaChile's Cailin plant from its list of restricted plants.
Within the framework of collaboration between the relevant authorities of Chile and Russia, on 3 September, the two parties signed a cooperation protocol on the prevention and control of diseases of farmed fish and mollusks and the safety of their products.
Chile exports fish and aquaculture production to more than 140 markets, in which the Russian Federation represents 5 percent of the total. Other principal markets include the United States (17 percent), Japan (14 percent), China (13 percent), and Brazil (7 percent).
