After the sanctions imposed by the Russian government against five Ecuadorian banana exporters for the alleged presence of the humpback fly, Patricio Almeida, director of the Agency for Phytosanitary and Animal Health Regulation and Control (Agrocalidad) of Ecuador, said that the humpback fly is not an agricultural pest of bananas, as denounced by the Federal Veterinary Control Service in Moscow. He informed me about the actions that were being taken in this regard. Faced with the concern that the humpback fly is in shipments of Ecuadorian bananas that arrive in Russia and that, in addition, it is a carrier of cholera, Patricio Almeida explained that it has been evidenced, through reports from the Ministry of Health, that there are no reports since 2014 of this variant was present in the country.  

The executive director of Agrocalidad recalled that Russia has asked for the technical justifications, for which this entity attached to the Ministry of Agriculture is presenting the reports that support the work in the field to control the quality of crops and products that are exported. Almeida noted that, in 2023, Ecuador registered more than 84,000 shipments of bananas to 76 destinations around the world, and in none of them was an incidence with the humpback fly reported.

That same year, nearly 78 million boxes of bananas were sent to Russia, and the alert came this year in a specific case, which shows that the risk exposed is "shallow". However, in response to the concern of the Russian government, Agrocalidad has increased inspections of producers and exporters, with technical assistance, to demonstrate strict compliance with the protocols.

He said that, with the arguments that have been presented to the Russian authorities, he hopes that the impasse allegedly caused by Ecuador's decision to send Russian weapons, considered "junk," to the United States will be resolved.

Almeida explained that a meeting was requested for the Russian Official Service to learn about the work plans being carried out in the country, and thus, any doubts could be resolved.