Russia Refuses from Azerbaijani Food Products. What to Do?

On December 8 of this year, the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision of Russia published information on its official website. The report says that the Rosselkhoznadzor introduces temporary restrictions on the supply of tomatoes and apples from the Republic of Azerbaijan to the territory of the Russian Federation.

The information disseminated by the Federal Service also states that the Rosselkhoznadzor has repeatedly provided the Food Safety Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan (AQTA) with systematic information on the detection of quarantine objects in products supplied to the Russian Federation. The message also notes that only from October 22, 2020 to the present day, 17 cases of detection of objects under quarantine have been recorded.

According to the service, the South American tomato moth prevailed in the tomatoes that were imported into the country, while the eastern moth prevailed in apples. The Rosselkhoznadzor says that in order to preserve phytosanitary well-being, to prevent the import and spread of these pests on the territory of the Russian Federation, from December 10, 2020, it is forced to ban the import of tomatoes and apples of Azerbaijani origin into Russia.

The Food Safety Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan (AQTA) reported that it is conducting an investigation into the ban on the export of tomatoes and apples from Azerbaijan.

It should also be noted that a day later, on December 9, the Rosselkhoznadzor introduced temporary restrictions on the supply of tomatoes and peppers from the Armavir region of the Republic of Armenia to the territory of the Russian Federation. Thus, the Rosselkhoznadzor detected the Pepino mosaic virus on tomatoes imported into the territory of the Russian Federation from Armenia. Russia considers it necessary from December 14, 2020 to ban the import of tomatoes and peppers produced in the Armavir region of the Republic of Armenia, in order to prevent the spread of the virus on its territory.

For a long time, information has been circulating that pests, which are quarantine objects, were found in fruits and vegetables sent from Azerbaijan to Russia, and in this regard, trucks belonging to Azerbaijan were detained and returned at the Russian customs border point. By noting a few such data, it is possible to describe how serious the existing problems in this area are.

On October 21, 2017, Rosselkhoznadzor employees did not allow more than 33 tons of tomatoes imported from Azerbaijan to be imported into the country, the reason is the incomplete filling of the phytosanitary certificate. For violation of the rules for the import and export of quarantine products, the owner of the cargo is brought to administrative responsibility in accordance with the requirements of the relevant legislation of the Russian Federation.

An investigation by the Rosselkhoznadzor on November 21, 2017, found a Californian scale insect in apples and persimmons imported from Azerbaijan. Employees of the department prevent the import of 18 tons of tomatoes from Azerbaijan into Russia. The reason is the falsification of the relevant documents for the goods. For this reason, the product is being returned.

According to the head of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Dagestan, in January-June 2019, 66 cases of return of agricultural products to Azerbaijan were recorded at the Yarag-Kazmalyar customs checkpoint. In total, 1,320 tons of cargo was returned to the republic. According to the customs checkpoint, in the week from June 16 to June 23, 2019, 119.095 tons of tomatoes and 108.146 tons of fresh cherries were found there, the import of which to Russia is prohibited due to the fact that harmful substances were found in products imported from Azerbaijan (tomato moth, Eastern moth and Western California flower thrips). It is also noted that, given the high pest risk, these consignments were returned to the exporting country.

Unfortunately, in 2018, 18 vehicles, and in 2019, 10 vehicles carrying nuts exported to the European Union were returned due to the high content of aflatoxin in the product.

It should be noted that AQTA has been established for more than 3 years. And this agency began its activities on January 1, 2018. The maximum number of employees of the Agency's staff is determined at 135 staff units. The Agency is the central body that regulates food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary control, issues food safety certificates, phytosanitary and veterinary certificates, state control over food safety at all stages of the food chain, including primary production, supply, processing, packaging, storage, transportation, circulation (including import-export operations) of food products, as well as government policy and regulation in these areas. Therefore, we can say with confidence that the certificate for fruit and vegetable products returned by the Russian side to Azerbaijan has been provided by AQTA since 2018.

The Russian side notes that the accompanying documents for the cargo indicate that everything is in order. Despite the fact that such information has repeatedly appeared in the media, over the past period AQTA has not commented on these issues. In early July 2019, the media reported that 118 tons of Azerbaijani products (32 tons of tomatoes, 53 tons of cherries, 20 tons of peas, 13 tons of strawberries) were not sent to Russia due to the detection of pests. The fact is that, despite extensive media coverage of this information, AQTA chairman Goshgar Tahmazli said in an interview with the press that “118 tons of agricultural products of plant origin have not been returned to Azerbaijan from Russia. The disseminated data does not reflect the truth. "

The AQTA chairman later said that a total of 5 vehicles had been returned. The 5 vehicles contained agricultural products such as tomatoes, cherries and tobacco. The Chairman of the Agency concealed that the total weight of the cargo in these 5 vehicles is 118 tons. He also noted that in the first days of July, pests were found in three vehicles.

The official noted the number of vehicles, not the weight of the cargo, to hide the volume. And about 1,320 tons of cargo returned from the Russian border in January-June 2019, they were generally silent. Although the chairman of the agency admitted that pest infestation of agricultural products was detected on 3 vehicles, he did not say on what grounds the certificates for these products were issued. Plus, all that was, the head of the Food Safety Agency Goshgar Tahmazli also said: "In our crop farms, the use of agrochemicals and pesticides against plant pests is already correctly carried out."

The official does not understand that if pest control measures were correctly carried out in our crop farms, quarantine objects would not have been found in the composition of exported agricultural products, and cars loaded with cargo would not have been returned. Goods and products would be promptly exported to the markets of foreign countries, and entrepreneurs engaged in export would not face additional financial losses, as well as loss of time.

According to the Food Safety Agency, 21 laboratories have been created that meet the most modern requirements. In order to accelerate the export process, a phytosanitary laboratory has been established in the Khachmaz region, which carries out quarantine examination and physical and chemical examination of plant products. Be that as it may, in laboratories that meet the most modern requirements in Azerbaijan, quarantine harmful organisms are not detected, but are found in a laboratory located at the Yarag-Kazmalyar customs checkpoint in Dagestan. The fact is that, as noted above, in January-June 2019, 66 cases were registered at the Yarag-Kazmalyar customs checkpoint related to the return of agricultural products to Azerbaijan. This means that on average, this happened 11 times a month, or every 3 days. Another fact is that, despite the fact that quarantine objects were found in the composition of agricultural products exported from Azerbaijan to Russia, no measures were taken against the officials who executed the documents accompanying the cargo, hiding such facts and circumstances. ...

The Ministry of Agriculture, which is responsible for preventing the massive spread of harmful organisms in plant products, as well as for eliminating diseases, is silent. In this country, there is no serious fight against dangerous pests. The situation in this area is quite critical.

It should also be noted that over the past few years in the Russian Federation, the number of farms producing tomatoes in greenhouse conditions has been rapidly growing. According to the General Director of the Russian Association "Russian Teplitsy", greenhouses are considered the most profitable segment in the Russian agro-industrial complex. Therefore, the number of people working in this area is growing. On the other hand, as a result of the introduction of modern technologies in greenhouse farms, it is possible to get more than 120 kilograms of cucumbers and more than 80 kilograms of tomatoes per square meter. Thanks to special lamps installed in greenhouses in Russia, it was possible to achieve a continuous process of photosynthesis in plants during the day and, as a result, a multiple increase in yield.

In 2019, the Russian Greenhouses Association made a forecast for 2020 that 1.5 million tons (up to 75 percent of demand) of vegetables will be produced on an area of ​​3.2 thousand hectares of greenhouses. A few days ago, the Minister of Agriculture of Russia Dmitry Patrushev noted in his speech that this year (2020) the production of vegetables grown in greenhouse conditions reached a record level of 1.3 million tons. This, in turn, will lead to a serious reduction in vegetable imports from Russia. This means that in the coming years, Azerbaijan must look for new markets for the export of fruits and vegetables. Today, entrepreneurs involved in the production of fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes, apples, etc. have a responsibility to increase productivity, improve product quality, reduce production costs and increase product competitiveness.

Vahid Magerramov