While Pakistan's kinnow mandarin industry had gained re-entry to the Russian market earlier, the Slavic nation's authorities officially lifted a ban on Pakistani plant products last week.

On Feb. 26, Russia's Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) said the decision was made after its specialists visited Pakistan and engaged in consultation with the country's Department of Plant Protection.

While the news is positive for many Pakistani growers, potatoes have been excluded from the measure.

"Currently, the Pakistani government is working on the preparation of their proposed additional protocol on the supply of potatoes from Pakistan to Russia," the Rosselkhoznadzor report said.

In a column for www.freshfruitportal.com, Moscow-based RK Marketing/Fruitnews.ru general director Irina Koziy said a ban on both Pakistani and Egyptian potatoes had led to a decline in Russia's imports of the tuber last year.

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