Russia maintains a ban on fresh fruits and vegetables imported by 16 Armenian entities following its negotiations with relevant Armenian authorities, a senior official in Yerevan said on Wednesday.
The Rosselkhoznadzor agricultural watchdog essentially notified Armenia’s Food Safety Inspection Body (FSIB) about the ban in a letter publicized by Armenian media on July 17. It alleged eight more detected instances of imported Armenian tomatoes and apples exceeding the maximum residue levels of pesticides allowed in Russia and other Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) member states.
The FSIB scrambled to address the Russian concerns, pledging to step up laboratory of agricultural products and to investigate the 16 Armenian firms and individual entrepreneurs blacklisted by Moscow.
Russia has long been the principal export market for Armenian fruits, vegetables and prepared foodstuffs. The export restrictions imposed by Rosselkhoznadzor come amid heightened tensions between Moscow and Yerevan. In recent months, Russian officials have repeatedly warned the Armenian government about economic and security consequences of its continuing to drift to the West.
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A senior FSIB official, Anush Harutiunian, confirmed that the Armenian food safety inspectorate has discussed the matter with Rosselkhoznadzor.
“The ban has not been lifted because we need to keep them posted on our ongoing inspections of those companies,” Harutiunian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
“It’s a long process that cannot be concluded swiftly,” she said, admitting that the ban is unlikely to be lifted soon.
In a July 26 statement, Rosselkhoznadzor reported some details of “online negotiations” held by its deputy chief Yulia Shvabauskene and her Armenian opposite number, Sona Tsarukian. It said Shvabauskene “stressed the need for the Armenian side to take comprehensive measures and ensure close control over certified products.”
The statement also said the two sides agreed that Russian officials will visit Armenia in late August to “conduct a joint inspection of production, processing, storage and shipment sites for products intended for export to Russia.”
Neither side has publicized the list of the Armenian entities affected by the Russian ban. Harutiunian said only that three of them are companies that not only export but also grow various crops.
“There is a serious problem with inspecting the others,” added the official. “We need to understand from which farms they collected [agricultural produce.] As you can imagine, it’s a process that will take a while.”
The economic cost of the Russian curbs is still not clear. Government data shows that Armenian exports of fruits and vegetables totaled $182.5 million in 2023 and about $70 million in January-May 2024. More than 90 percent of them reportedly went to Russia.
According to the Rosselkhoznadzor statement, Russia has imported almost 74,000 tons of such products since the beginning of this year. Those include nearly 29,000 tons of apricots, 12,400 tons of apples and 8,700 tons of tomatoes.
