The restrictions on the supply of Armenian agricultural products to Russia are not related to politics, but to the lack of effective quality control among producers, said the head of the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision (Rosselkhoznadzor), Sergey Dankvert.
Earlier, Rosselkhoznadzor announced that starting June 12, it would restrict the import of all products from Armenia subject to quarantine control, as well as their transit from Russia to the other Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) member states.
“We [i.e. the Rosselkhoznadzor] have a long history of working with enterprises, the results of laboratory tests, data on supplies and violations detected,” Dankvert said in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta. He noted that Armenia’s respective problem lies, first of all, in the organizing of production and control.
A large number of small farmers grow products and supply them for export, but there is practically no internal control and cooperation system between production and delivery.
According to Dankvert, the supervisory authorities cannot physically check such a huge amount of products.
“When there is cooperation, production control, responsibility of producer associations, then the system works effectively; that is what is missing today. Therefore, the reasons for the restrictions [on Armenian products in Russia] are related to the quality and safety of products, not politics,” said the Rosselkhoznadzor chief.
