Mandarins from Morocco and South Africa infested with a pest were allowed to be sold in Yekaterinburg stores.

      Specialists from the Ural Interregional Office of Rosselkhoznadzor detected larvae of the red orange scale in a large batch of mandarins delivered to Yekaterinburg, the agency's press service reported.

      The pest was found in nine tonnes of citrus imported from Morocco and the Republic of South Africa.

      — The presence of a quarantine pest (three larvae in a dead state) was confirmed by laboratory examination. The main pathway for the spread of the scale is planting material, and since infected fruit does not pose a serious danger, Rosselkhoznadzor allowed the products to be marketed, the agency reports.

      Earlier it was reported that tonnes of infected vegetables had arrived in Yekaterinburg.