You can import dehydrated onion and garlic from India into Russia. Food safety is set by the technical regulations of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), plant health is controlled by Rosselkhoznadzor, and what most often holds a shipment up is not the product but a missing conformity declaration, a phytosanitary mismatch, or a payment and shipping route that was not settled before loading.
Who regulates the import
Russia applies the common rules of the EAEU, which also covers Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. For dried vegetables the key text is technical regulation TR CU 021/2011 on food safety. Before goods are released, the importer normally registers a declaration of conformity with that regulation, backed by test reports, and the declaration appears in the official register kept by the national accreditation service. Packed food also has to meet TR CU 022/2011 on labelling, which means Russian-language labels.
Rosselkhoznadzor, the federal veterinary and phytosanitary service, carries out quarantine phytosanitary control at the border. Whether your exact form of dried onion or garlic needs an Indian phytosanitary certificate depends on how the EAEU classes it, so confirm this with your customs broker before shipping. Our note on whether dehydrated vegetables need a phytosanitary certificate explains how the Indian side issues one. Rospotrebnadzor oversees food sold in the consumer market after release.
Lab tests that matter
Test each lot against the EAEU limits, not just Indian or EU ones. A sensible plan covers:
- Pesticide residues against EAEU limits. See pesticide residue testing for dehydrated onion for how to set up the panel.
- Microbiology: total plate count, yeast and mould, coliforms and salmonella. Read how salmonella appears in dehydrated onion.
- Ethylene oxide and 2-chloroethanol, which many buyers now ask for wherever the goods go. See why 2-chloroethanol is tested.
Documents
The document pack your broker will ask for covers the general set.
- Commercial invoice, packing list and bill of lading, with matching lot numbers.
- Certificate of origin. Ask your broker which form they need and whether any preference applies.
- Phytosanitary certificate, if required for the product as classed.
- Lab reports from an accredited laboratory, used for the conformity declaration.
- Russian label text agreed before packing.
Duty and trade terms
Duty is set in the EAEU Common Customs Tariff by commodity code, and your broker can check it there. India and the EAEU began talks on a free trade agreement in 2025, and at the time of writing no agreement had been signed, so check the current position before you assume any preference.
Payments, sanctions and banking
Western sanctions since 2022 have cut several Russian banks off from SWIFT, and some international banks will not process Russia-related payments. India and Russia have used special rupee vostro accounts to settle some trade, and settlement in rupees, roubles or other currencies is common, but payment timing can still be uncertain. Several large container lines also stopped taking Russian bookings, which narrows the choice of carrier.
This is not legal advice. Sanctions rules differ by country and change often. If you or your bank are subject to EU, UK, US or other sanctions regimes, check your own obligations, the parties involved and the payment route with your bank and adviser before ordering. Agree a safe payment method for a first order in writing.
What Russia buys and how it arrives
Russian food makers use onion and garlic powder and granules in meat products such as sausages and pelmeni, in mayonnaise-based sauces, crisps and crackers seasoning, and in spice blends. Flakes and kibbled onion go into soups and ready meals. Chinese garlic competes strongly here, so compare origins using Indian versus Chinese dehydrated garlic.
From Mundra, Pipavav or Nhava Sheva, three routes are used. Sea freight via Suez to St Petersburg on the Baltic. Sea freight to Novorossiysk on the Black Sea. Or the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC): sea to Bandar Abbas in Iran, then road or rail north to the Caspian and Astrakhan, then rail into Russia. Transit can run from a few weeks to two months or more depending on route and transhipment, so ask the forwarder for current schedules. Red Sea disruption since late 2023 has affected some Suez routings.
Cities
Moscow is the largest consumer and food-processing market, supplied mainly by rail from the ports.
St Petersburg is the main Baltic port of entry and a food-processing city in its own right.
Next step
Settle the payment route, the conformity declaration and the label before the plant starts production.
We work on the supplier side in India: finding and auditing plants for dehydrated onion and dehydrated garlic, having each lot tested at an NABL-accredited laboratory to EAEU limits, supervising loading and checking the documents, for one written fee agreed in advance. To plan a Russian order, book a free sourcing review.