Rosselkhoznadzor prohibited the import of apples and tomatoes from Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey, discovering in the supply of pests

Since December 10, it is forbidden to import tomatoes and apples from Azerbaijan into Russia, according to the website of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision (Rosselkhoznadzor).

The supervisory authority noted that the Azerbaijan food security agency has been warned more than once about the presence of harmful organisms in imported products: from October 22 to the present, 17 similar cases have been recorded. It is clarified that we are talking about South American tomato moths and the eastern perch. Pests were found in the supply of tomatoes and apples.

"To maintain phytosanitary well -being," Rosselkhoznadzor from December 10 prohibits the import of tomatoes and apples of Azerbaijani origin into Russia. According to RIA Novosti Azerbaijan is a fairly large exporter of plant products in the Russian Federation and was in the first place in the supply of fresh and chilled tomatoes. According to the statistics of the FCS, last year the import of these products was at the level of 172,359 thousand tons - about 30.9% of the total supply of these goods.

In addition, the Rosselkhoznadzor announced the suspension of tomatoes from Armenia, since they detected the Mosaic virus of Pepino. As a result of infection with the virus, the fruits of tomatoes, pepper, eggplant, potatoes and other vegetables from the nightshade family lose their product qualities, and the disease itself spreads very quickly from infected plants to healthy and harvesting and harvesting.

On October 30, negotiations were held at the initiative of the Rosselkhoznadzor, during which the Armenian side was informed about the current situation. Rosselkhoznadzor asked to strengthen control over vegetables supplied to Russia, as well as provide information about the results of the investigation and adopted phytosanitary measures.

"As of the beginning of December 2020, the information requested by the Rosselkhoznadzor did not receive, which may indicate unpreparedness of the Armenian phytosanitary control system to ensure the import of products free from the Pepino Mosaic virus," the department said. In this regard, Rosselkhoznadzor considers it necessary to prohibit the import of tomatoes and peppers exported and/or produced in the Armavir region of Armenia from December 14. Retailers promise to replace these deliveries from other countries.

The source of RIA Novosti, familiar with the situation, said that Baku was surprised by the ban, and Azerbaijani tomatoes and apples have been exported to Russia for decades. According to him, we can talk about a technical error.

“Moreover, in recent years, manufacturers are increasingly prone to use exclusively advanced technologies for the fight against pests and organic drugs. Negotiations on this issue have already begun between the relevant structures, and I think this issue will be revised and the position of the Rosselkhoznadzor will change,” he said.

Claims arose to the supply of fresh tomatoes from Turkey, where the same South American tomato moth and viruses of the Mosaic Pepino, as well as the Western California (Flower) Trips, were identified. The supplies of infected products were carried out mainly from the provinces of Antalya and Izmir, also the viruses of the mosaic of Pepino, brown wrinkles of tomato fruits and spotting of tomatoes (tomato bronze) are found in products from the provinces of Trabzon and Hatay.

"The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Turkey was officially notified of the current situation with the phytosanitary state of tomatoes, but there was no information about the violations adopted by the Turkish side. In connection with the above, the Rosselkhoznadzor was forced to introduce from December 11, 2020 a ban on importing tomatoes and pepper made and/or exported from the provinces of the provinces Antalya and Izmir, ”the report said. The Rosselkhoznadzor also intends to consider the introduction of a ban on the import of plant products from other Turkish regions in case of new cases of infection.