Russia lifts ban on tomatoes, apples import from 27 Azerbaijani enterprises

4 March 2021 11:15 (UTC+04:00)

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By Ayya Lmahamad

Russia’s agriculture watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor has lifted the ban on imports of 19 tomato producers and 8 apple producers operating in Azerbaijan.

The decision was made under the guarantees of the Azerbaijan Food Safety Organization and based on the results of quarantine phytosanitary examination of samples of products taken during joint video inspections.

So far, relevant Russian authority lifted the ban on import for 70 tomatoes and 46 apples producers companies operating in Azerbaijan.

It should be noted that the export potential of enterprises that are allowed to export apples to Russian is 114,382 tons, which is 170.9 percent of the 66,924 tons of apples exported to this country in 2020. Meanwhile, the export potential of enterprises that are allowed to export tomatoes is 224,168 tons, which is 124.5 percent of the 179,956 tons of tomato products exported to Russia last year.

Rosselkhoznadzor banned the import of Azerbaijani tomatoes and apples on December 10, citing the necessity to “prevent the import and spread” of pesticides to Russia.

Azerbaijan Food Safety Agency and relevant agencies are taking joint measures to lift restrictions on the tomatoes and apple export from Azerbaijan to Russia.

Azerbaijan is a major supplier of fruits and vegetables to Russia. The country ranked first in supplies of fresh and chilled tomatoes.

Ayya Lmahamad is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AyyaLmahamad