La Unió reported that the European food alert system, RASFF, detected 6 rejections of citrus fruits (4 from Egypt, 1 from Turkey, and 1 from Brazil) due to unapproved active ingredients or exceeding maximum residue limits (MRL). Additionally, there were five avocado rejections, 4 from Colombia and 1 from Peru.
The four citrus shipments from Egypt were rejected due to chlorpyrifos; the shipment from Turkey was rejected for methyl chlorpyrifos; and the one from Brazil was rejected for demeton. In avocados, all rejections are due to cadmium content. The active substances chlorpyrifos and methyl chlorpyrifos have not been authorized in the EU since 2020, nor has demeton. Cadmium is subject to maximum limits in both food and fertilizers.
© La Unió
"Regarding Egypt, it is important to note that the latest February data coincides with their oranges competing against ours in European markets. Additionally, the European Commission has reduced inspection frequencies on Egyptian orange imports from 20% to 10%. Authorities argue that 'oranges from Egypt have been subject to increased controls since July 2022 due to the risk of pesticide residues, but because the controls show improved compliance, the 20% level is no longer justified, and the frequency should be halved. An argument that, based on the available official data, continues to fall short," La Unió stated.
In addition to decreasing inspections for Egyptian oranges, similar reductions are applied to lemons and oranges from Turkey, dropping from 30% to 20%. For mandarins, clementines, wilkings, and related hybrids, the inspection rate has been lowered from 20% to 10%.
Carles Peris, Secretary General of La Unió, emphasizes, "We are encountering serious unfair competition, and it is unreasonable for the EU to reduce inspections while interception data remains high, often from the same countries. Products cultivated with active substances banned in the EU should not be allowed to enter freely."
La Unió suggests increasing identity and physical inspections on fruits and vegetables from countries with high interception rates, such as Turkey and Egypt, to 50%. It also recommends extending these measures to last 12 months to ensure effectiveness. If there is a 5% rise in alerts for any product during any month within this period, the proposal is to halt imports from these countries and ban agricultural products containing traces of pesticides not approved in the EU or exceeding legal MRLs.
The organization stresses that the EC should tighten its lenient stance on signing trade agreements with third countries like Egypt, Turkey, and Mercosur nations, which have high interception rates due to unauthorized active materials and pests.
For more information:
La Unió
[email protected]
https://launio.org
