KYIV, Sept 4 – Importers of fruits in the EU countries from September 1, 2019 refuse to buy some types of fruit and vegetables from Ukraine and other countries, which are not EU member states, as Directive (EU) 2019/523 took force, the Ukrainian Horticultural Association has said.

According to a statement on the association's website on Wednesday, this directive was adopted on March 21, 2019. It envisages strengthening the EU's protection against organisms harmful to plants and concerns the supply of apples, pears, tomatoes, eggplants, pepper and other products. Under the directive, from September 1, 2019, all non-EU countries are required to officially declare that they have no cases of the identification of certain harmful organisms.