Imported from Iran, exported to Japan: Conflict flares up in Georgia over kiwi supplies

Georgian farmers are asking the authorities to tighten control over kiwi imports into the country. Producers complain that due to insufficient oversight, Iranian fruits are exported to Japan under the guise of Georgian ones, EastFruit reports. “Kiwis imported from Iran are brought to Japan for sale as Georgian ones. Perhaps no one would have found out about one or two such cases and they would have been overlooked, but when you don’t even have 1 hectare of kiwi plantation, and you export several tons, how does this happen?” explained Demur Pipia, head of the Georgian Association of Kiwi Producers. As reported by NGnewsgeorgia, farmers are also demanding that the government implement a previously adopted resolution providing for fines for exporters who violate labeling rules. "Iranian kiwis are imported and sold with Georgian certification... If detected, the exporter would be fined several thousand lari, but nothing like that is happening," says Pipia. Read also: Georgia's ...