Russia's food import watchdog has blocked a shipment of kiwifruit en route from Minsk to Moscow on April 15, claiming it contained a fraudulent Chilean phytosanitary certificate.

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The Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) published documentation for the 19-metric ton (MT) consignment, claimed to have been from exporter David del Curto and grown in the Chilean province of Cachapoal.

The country of origin document claimed the fruit had been signed-off at the Port of Valparaiso on March 10.

At the time of writing, David del Curto had not yet responded to requests for comment.

Last week Rosselkhoznadzor blocked yet another shipment of Polish fresh apples with a volume of 38.7MT, although the fruit was marked as in transit from Belarus to Kazakhstan. Imports of Polish produce are banned in the market as part of Russia's embargo on EU food imports.

During the week the authority also blocked 1.75MT of produce coming from Belarus - including pears, apples and tomatoes - that was bound for the Pskov region, citing a lack of certification as the cause, along with 54MT of fresh cabbage from Kazakhstan that was intercepted in Chelyabinsk.

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