Russia's agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor has banned dairy imports from Armenia starting Monday, July 27, the agency announced. Inspections of Armenian milk-processing plants conducted July 14–21 confirmed "similar violations to those recorded during inspections in 2023–2024," the agency said.
The inspections found "use of milk from infected livestock for the production of products supplied to Russia," according to Rosselkhoznadzor. The agency also reported confirmed cases of using raw materials from third countries to produce high-fat products for the Russian market, despite earlier assurances from Armenia's veterinary service that only domestic or Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) raw materials were used. Additional violations included failures in traceability systems, document processing, and veterinary-sanitary examination.
"Once again it is confirmed that Armenia cannot cope with controlling agricultural producers, including due to the consequences of the 2019 government reform," Rosselkhoznadzor said in a statement. Armenian authorities have not yet commented on the ban.
The dairy ban is the latest in a series of restrictions on Armenian food imports in recent months. Russia has previously imposed limits on Armenian vegetables, fruits, flowers, alcohol, water, and fish products. In mid-June, Rosselkhoznadzor significantly expanded its ban on Armenian "quarantine" products, adding around 130 items to the list. The restrictions follow statements by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan about plans to move the country closer to the European Union and parliamentary elections held in June.
On July 20, Armenian Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan announced that the country had received its first permission to export fish to the European Union.