All kinds of checks of primrose traders are carried out in the city regularly, but so far there has been no noticeable progress in this matter. First of all, because demand creates supply. Many Minsk residents do not disdain to buy seasonal greens from hands, without asking questions about where it was collected and how legal its sale is.
— Wild garlic, or bear’s garlic, is a species listed in the Red Book. Administrative liability is provided for their unauthorized removal, destruction, damage, disturbance of the growing environment or other actions that threaten the death of plants. At the same time, there is garden wild garlic, which can be legally grown in private plots, collected and sold subject to the established rules of trade, — Tatyana Shemenkova, head of the department for control over the protection and use of lands, forests, flora and fauna, explained to journalists.
The specialist explains: it is very difficult to prove the fact of illegal collection of wild garlic in the capital, since it is collected en masse in other regions of the republic, and is brought to Minsk only for sale. But inspectors often have questions about trade in unauthorized places.
The first place to check is the seasonal market on Komarovka. On a weekday, there aren’t many sellers of wild garlic here, but their documents are all in order.
The man notes that this year he has collected a good harvest of early greens. However, from his words it is clear: you won’t make much money from it. He sells small bunches of plant leaves for 1.5 rubles, large ones for 3. But there are not many buyers, and brisk trade can only be expected on weekends.
Another salesperson, pensioner Vera Grigoryevna, complains about the lack of customers.
An elderly woman shows the raid participants a permit for trading in the designated place for inspection. There are no comments on her: the document lists all the products on her counter.
— To sell wild garlic from a private farmstead, individuals must provide a passport, fluorography, and a certificate from the village executive committee stating that this product was grown on a personal plot, — explains the head of the market trade organization service, Alla Fidrus.
Fine — up to 50 base units
Afterwards, the raid participants headed to a well-known illegal trading site on the way from the Komarovsky market to the Yakub Kolas Square metro station. From a distance, it is clear that this is a crowded place and passers-by often turn off the road to buy a bunch or two of vitamin-rich greens from grandmothers.
Tatyana Loseva, chief specialist of the trade and services department of the Sovetsky District administration, spoke about the possible consequences of such trade from hands:
— If a citizen sells any product in an unauthorized place, but has permits on hand, such as a certificate of ownership of a land plot, then his actions are classified under Part 6 of Art. 13.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses. The sanction of the article provides for a fine of up to 3 basic units. But if a citizen is standing in an unauthorized place without the necessary documents, then this is already a violation under Part 8 of the same article, and the fine there is an order of magnitude higher – from 5 to 50 basic units.
Illegal sellers, mostly elderly people, are clearly aware of this responsibility. Upon seeing inspectors and journalists with filming equipment, they quickly start packing wild garlic into bags. Some drop everything as is and run to the bus stop, showing remarkable agility for their age. Those who are late, carefully turn away from the cameras and do not answer the inspectors’ questions. Literally a minute – and they also disappear behind the nearest stall.
A trade representative clarifies: the liability of illegals is mitigated by disability and retirement age, and repeat offenses aggravate their situation. Therefore, the first time the culprits usually receive a fine of five base units, and in each subsequent case the amount increases by one base unit.
To sum it up, all the inspectors agree: a lot depends on the buyers themselves. After such inspections, protocols and fines, the situation stabilizes for a couple of weeks, and then everything returns to normal. Therefore, all lovers of buying wild garlic from grandmothers should think again. After all, the health benefits of one bunch of even the most useful greens are questionable. But the harm is quite real, and for some sellers we can measure it in basic units.
Materials from the website of the UP “Agency “Minsk-Novosti”
