Russia imposes ban on Azerbaijan tomato imports after war with Moscow's ally Armenia

In an attempt to target its Caspian neighbour's biggest export after hydrocarbons, Russia on Wednesday banned tomatoes from Azerbaijan. This decision came after the 44-day war waged by the South Caucasus state against Moscow ally Armenia. Speaking about this decision further, Russia's agricultural goods- watchdog Rosselkhonznadzor said that the country is considering broadening an earlier ban on tomato and pepper imports from parts of Turkey, which backed Azerbaijan military in the offensive against the majority-ethnic-Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh region. 

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Russian bans tomato imports from Azerbaijan

Russia is one of the world's largest importers of tomatoes on December 9 also halted imports of tomatoes and peppers from an American region bordering Turkey and a province in Uzbekistan. The Russian regulator while speaking about the latest ban cited safety concerns for all the moves. Azerbaijan is known to send almost all its tomato exports to Russia. 

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The recently imposed ban by Russia also covers Azeri apples. The ban also aims to threaten efforts by the government in Baku to diversify its economy away from oil and gas, which currently accounts for 90 per cent of all exports. This ban on tomatoes at first received no public reaction from Baku. However, Russia's state-run RIA Novosti news service cited an unnamed source in Azerbaijan's capital saying that this move was likely a technical mistake and would soon be reversed. 

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Earlier in 2015, Russia had banned Turkish tomato following Turkey's downing of a Russian fighter jet on the border with Syria. However, the Russian authorities had later lifted the ban but kept a quota system limiting supplied from Turkey. Ever since this ban, Turkish producers have turned to other markets to sell their produce. 

In the last month, Russia had brokered a cease-fire under which Armenia lost control over all the districts of Azerbaijan which it has captured in a 1990s war amid the collapse of the society Union. Since then, the Kremlin has repeatedly and unsuccessfully urged a halt to hostilities since the conflict which erupted on September 27. The Turkish involvement in this incident has marked a setback for Russia, which has long regarded the region as its traditional backyard.

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