By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Russia has extended permission for railway imports of Azerbaijani crop products, the Food Safety Agency has reported.

The expansion of cooperation between Azerbaijan's Food Safety Agency and Russia's Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor), the presence of constructive dialogue in resolving bilateral trade issues, and trust in Azerbaijan's phytosanitary supervision system are all producing positive results.

On February 14, new negotiations were held between the Agency's chairman, Goshgar Tahmazli, and Rosselkhoznadzor's head, Sergei Dankvert, to extend the validity period of Russia's permission for the import of tomatoes and apples by rail from Azerbaijan.

This term has been extended until February 1, 2023, as a result of the negotiations. It should be noted that prior negotiations resulted in permission to import the aforementioned products by rail until April 1, 2022.

Currently, the export potential of 227 tomato exporting enterprises authorized to export tomatoes from Azerbaijan to Russia is 385,460 tons, and the export potential of 77 apple exporting enterprises authorized to export apples is 186,948 tons.

It should be noted that the Rosselkhoznadzor requires agricultural products to be transported to Russia only in containers that meet international standards.

On December 10, 2020, Rosselkhoznadzor prohibited the export of Azerbaijani tomatoes and apples, citing the need to "prevent the import and spread" of pesticides into Russia.

Azerbaijan is a major fruit and vegetable supplier to Russia. The country led the world in fresh and chilled tomato supplies.

Azerbaijan and Russia have mutual cooperation in different fields, such as economy, agriculture, customs, communications, high technology, and others. More than 230 intergovernmental and intercompany documents have been signed between the two countries and six "road maps" are being implemented.