ArmInfo. Violations have been identified in the production of dairy products in Armenia, including violations related to traceability systems, the preparation of veterinary accompanying documents for raw materials and finished goods, the veterinary and sanitary inspection of incoming raw materials, the functioning of risk management systems, and the implementation of production control programs.
This was stated in an official statement from Rosselkhoznadzor.
According to the source, from July 14 to 21, Rosselkhoznadzor specialists inspected dairy processing plants in Armenia that had previously opened under veterinary service guarantees and were supplying their products to Russia.
As part of the ongoing inspection, milk from infected livestock was found to be used in the production of products exported to Russia. Furthermore, inspections confirmed instances of raw materials from third countries being used to produce high-fat products for the Russian market, despite previous assurances from the Armenian Veterinary Service regarding the use of domestic raw materials or raw materials from EAEU enterprises.
"To date, Armenia has not established a system to confirm the origin and safety of milk or other dairy raw materials used in production. This is particularly true for the processing of milk from individuals, who cannot guarantee the safety of the delivered products. Furthermore, attention must be paid to the laboratory facilities," the statement reads.
Given the violations identified, Rosselkhoznadzor has taken measures to prevent the import of particularly dangerous infections into Russia and the sale of unsafe dairy products on the domestic market.
"This once again confirms that Armenia is failing to monitor agricultural producers, including due to the consequences of the 2019 government reform," Rosselkhoznadzor noted.
As a reminder, since the end of May of this year, authorized Russian authorities have been imposing restrictions on the import of products from Armenia as a result of violations identified during inspections. Restrictions initially affected flowers, then fresh agricultural produce, fish, and fish products. Now, the situation has become clearer regarding dairy products. Traditionally, Armenia exported over 80%-90% of these products to the Russian market.
