The State Revenue Committee (SRC) of Armenia has provided an explanation in connection with the media reports that nine tons of aid sent from France was blocked in one of the capital Yerevan's warehouses for more than two months.

The explanation says that on December 20, 2020, 8,271 kg of goods were imported to Armenia from France by a charitable NGO, which the organization wanted to declare through the "Refusal in favor of the state" customs procedure.

The SRC informs that the invoice accompanying these products mentions a total of 740 product names, which include a large amount of medicines and food.

The SRC has repeatedly informed the representatives of the aforesaid NGO that in order to declare food and medicine during customs clearance, the respective permits of the relevant agencies defined by the Armenian government are required, which, however, have not been submitted to the customs authorities so far.

At the same time, the SRC considers it necessary to note that in the working practice of the customs authorities, there was a case when the food safety inspectorate of Armenia found out—also when customs clearing food from France under the "Refusal in favor of the state" customs procedure—that the imported canned food was expired, and therefore it banned their import. So, it is not possible to import food to Armenia without proper permission.

The State Revenue Committee informs also that the customs authorities of Armenia have assisted the aforementioned organization by mediating the customs clearance, as well as urging the organizations implementing the protection of goods to provide their services to this organization free of charge and provide it the necessary assistance, which has been done.