Armenia tightens control over flower exports amid stricter requirements from Russian agricultural watchdog
YEREVAN, July 15. /ARKA/. Armenian flower producers must strictly comply with phytosanitary standards, said Tigran Petrosyan, head of the Food Safety Inspection Authority, adding that Russia (the destination of the bulk of Armenian flower exports) expects imported products to fully comply with its phytosanitary standards.
'This is standard practice throughout the world. The Russian market remains a priority for our flower producers," Petrosyan said at a press conference on Tuesday after meeting with flower farm owners.
According to him, despite stable exports to Russia, there remain a number of problems related to product quality.
“All our producers strive to export to the Russian market, they are already accustomed to it, but in practice we face many problems, which we discussed with the producers,” he added.
He stressed that from now on, phytosanitary certificates will only be issued after thorough inspection.
“This is a normal and mandatory condition, which we informed producers about in advance,” he said.
As an example, the head of the Inspection Authority pointed out that for many years, during the period of active exports, Armenian flower producers and exporters cooperated with companies with unclear or unconfirmed background.
He also said that an audit will be conducted in Armenian greenhouses in the near future in cooperation with Rosselkhoznadzor (Russian agricultural watchdog).
“Export certificates will only be issued to producers who have no plant diseases and have carried out all the necessary phytosanitary measures,” said the head of the regulator.
In recent weeks, Rosselkhoznadzor has tightened requirements for the import of cut flowers from Armenia. As explained by the deputy head of the agency, Yulia Shvabauskene, the reason for this was the frequent cases of deliveries of infected products containing quarantine objects.
According to the Armenian Food Safety Inspection Authority, after negotiations with Rosselkhoznadzor and joint inspections, seven Armenian companies were allowed to resume exports of flowers to Russia.-0-
