Russia Uses AI to Block Unsafe Food Shipments Before They Reach Stores
An AI-powered inspection system has helped Russia’s agricultural watchdog stop more than 160,000 tons of unsafe food from entering circulation since early 2024.
Russia’s Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor), the agency responsible for agricultural product safety, says artificial intelligence has dramatically improved its ability to detect violations in the food supply chain.
AI Takes Over Quality Control
The watchdog now relies on a suite of digital platforms to monitor production and distribution in real time — a sharp contrast to the past, when inspectors had to physically visit farms and factories to detect violations.
According to Artyom Daushyev, assistant to the agency’s head, Rosselkhoznadzor’s key digital ecosystem, known as VetIS, integrates 18 interlinked components. Its core system, Mercury, handles electronic veterinary certification and connects with other tools — Argus, Vesta, Cerberus, and Herriott — to ensure full traceability “from field to shelf.”
The result: Russia’s agricultural safety monitoring has become both faster and more precise, with AI now acting as the country’s first line of defense against contaminated or counterfeit food.
