The European Commission has let it be known, through the RASFF (Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed) of the European Union, that a new detection of chlorpyrifos residues, exceeding the EU's MRLs, has been found in Turkish lemons. Since 1 September, five batches of Turkish lemons have already been rejected at the EU border.
Undoubtedly, this is a serious problem in Turkey, whose producers and exporters are unable to offer the health guarantees required by the European market and legislation.
These five health alerts, reported in the database of the RASFF in just 6 weeks of the campaign, have confirmed the deficiencies of Turkey's official control systems regulating the marketing and use of phytosanitary products, and provides key information for European distribution chains and consumers, highlighting the problems of Turkish lemons to meet the EU's food safety standards.
Sources from AILIMPO have "praised the good functioning of EU controls, but the fact that every week we see a new sanitary alert notification in lemons from Turkey should be taken into account by European supermarket chains and consumers."