ArmInfo. Armenia will revise the list of goods temporarily banned from import, and lift the ban on certain goods. The RA government amended its previous decision at its meeting on October 1.
The draft justification emphasizes that this refers to tomatoes and tomato paste. In 2025-2026, the volume of imports of products classified under code 2002 90 of the EAEU Free Economic Zone (tomato paste) by country totaled 4,335.2 tons. According to import statistics, of this volume was 4289.2 tonnes, or 98.9 per cent, and of the 2225.4 tonnes imported in the first 7 months of 2026, 2212.8 tonnes, or 99.4 per cent, was tomato paste imported under FTA codes AA 2002903100, 2002903900, 2002909100, 2002909900. Most of the tomato paste imported under these codes was imported from Iran. The volume of imports from EU Member States amounted to 1 tonne in 2025 and 2 tonnes in the first 7 months of 2026. Most tomato paste imports from EU member states fall under codes 2002901100 and 2002901900.
Some of the imported tomato paste is re-exported, while the rest is sold on the local market after dilution and repackaging. Meanwhile, the cost of 1 kg of imported tomato paste is approximately 100 drams lower than the cost of locally produced tomato paste with similar characteristics. This creates an unequal competitive environment for entrepreneurs producing tomato paste from local raw materials and importing it, leading to serious problems with sales of local products. This situation directly impacts the procurement of tomatoes and the production of tomato paste. This is evidenced by the dynamics of the decline in procurement volumes (in 2025, about 19.4 thousand tons of tomatoes were purchased, which is approximately 28.9 thousand tons or more than 2.5 times less than the volume of tomato purchases in 2020), and if this situation continues, the processes of production and procurement of tomatoes will be at risk.
The draft proposes to extend the temporary ban on the import of products classified under the code 2002 90 of the EAEU Free Economic Zone to the territory of the Republic of Armenia, to products classified under the codes 2002 90 310 0, 2002 90 390 0, 2002 90 910 0, 2002 90 990 0 (from the EAEU and Iran), and to abolish the restriction on the import of products classified According to codes 2002 90 110 0 and 2002 90 190 0 (EU).
If the project is adopted, sales of locally produced tomato paste will increase, demand for tomatoes will rise, resulting in the full procurement of the proposed tomato crop, and the EU's concerns about this decision will be addressed.
