Russia's food safety watchdog has announced a ban on imports of two types of Turkish lettuce, following the detection of flower thrips in a shipment of the leafy vegetable.

In a statement yesterday, Russia's Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) said it would be placing a temporary ban on imports of Turkish lettuce and iceberg lettuce starting from May 16.

Lettuce was initially left off the list of Turkish produce items banned by the Russian Government in response to the downing of a Russian Su-24 jet near the Syrian border late last year.

The initial list included oranges, mandarins, grapes, apples, pears, apricots, peaches, plums, strawberries, tomatoes, onions, cauliflower and cucumbers.

Rosselkhoznadzor regularly reports interceptions of illegal Turkish produce, which in most cases is sent to landfill for destruction.

According to UN Comtrade data, Russia was Turkey's leading lettuce export market last year with 2,581 metric tons (MT), accounting for 40% of volume; the market was however more important in 2014, representing 70% of Turkey's exports at 3,926MT.

For Russian imports in 2014, Turkey was the third-largest provider of lettuce to the market behind Spain and the Netherlands, both of which have been blocked out of the market due to the Russian embargo.

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