Russia is threatening to ban the imports of Armenian tomatoes. This follows the detection of the pepino mosaic virus in a batch of tomatoes from Armenia.
"The Pepino mosaic virus was detected in the batch of tomatoes that arrived in Russia from Armenia. In this regard, the department warned Yerevan about a possible ban on the import of these vegetables," the food and safety organisation Rosselkhoznadzor press service reported according to Russian news source RBC. "It is dangerous for many vegetables, therefore, if re-detected, Russia will have to restrict imports."
The Rosselkhoznadzor contacted the Armenian deputy head of the food safety inspection, noting that it has carried out monitoring in Russian greenhouse complexes and farms that grow tomatoes in the open field. The virus was not detected anywhere, from which the service concluded that it was supplied from Armenia.
'We asked the Armenian side to strengthen control over vegetables supplied to Russia. In case of the re-detection of the virus in regulated goods, the Rosselkhoznadzor will be forced to apply restrictive measures against their import from Armenia,' the statement of Rosselkhoznadzor said.