Azernews.Az

By Ayya Lmahamad

Russia’s agriculture watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor has lifted the ban on tomato imports from five more Azerbaijani enterprises from May 25, Azerbaijan Food Safety Agency has reported.

So far, relevant Russian authority lifted the ban on import for 131 tomato producer companies operating in Azerbaijan.

Currently, the export potential of enterprises that are allowed to export tomatoes is 299,718 tons, which is 166.5 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.

Earlier last week, Azerbaijan’s Food Safety Agency Chairman and Russia’s agriculture watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor have discussed ways to remove restrictions on the export of Azerbaijani tomatoes and apples to Russia.

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

In the list of Azerbaijan’s non-oil exports last year tomatoes ranked second, accounting for $201.4 million.

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

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