YEREVAN. – The food being imported from Turkey is inadequately inspected in Armenia, “Informed and Protected Consumer” NGO Chairman Babken Pipoyan said during a press conference on Tuesday.

He added that even though lemons, chewing gums, food grain maize, and yeasts were imported from Turkey to Armenia in recent months, solely the chewing gums were subjected to laboratory tests, and where violations were found.

“How is it that the ASCPEC [i.e., the Armenian State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition] imposed large fines to the oligarchs, whereas the [Armenian State] Service on Food Safety is not doing this?” Pipoyan asked rhetorically.   

In his words, the Service on Food Safety does not even know what “technical tomatoes” are. Babken Pipoyan noted that tomatoes and other garden vegetable crops were always imported from Turkey, but a proper inspection was not conducted.