The European Union’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) reported up to five plant protection substances banned in European agriculture —dimethoate, oxamyl, clothianidin, chlorpyrifos and imidacloprid— in fruit and vegetables from Egypt during the month of May.
The Valencian Farmers’ Association (AVA-ASAJA) has denounced what it describes as the “systematic and alarming breaches by Egypt and other third countries in terms of food safety” and is therefore calling on Brussels to “increase controls, both at origin and at points of entry, in order not to endanger the health of European consumers”.
Egypt once again topped the list of food alerts detected through the EU’s RASFF portal. The notifications recorded include two rejections of Egyptian oranges in the Netherlands due to the presence of dimethoate and oxamyl; a border rejection in Cyprus of lemons containing clothianidin residues; another rejection of lemons due to chlorpyrifos; and an information notification for attention issued by Italy after residues of chlorpyrifos, clothianidin, imidacloprid and dimethoate were detected in Egyptian peaches. Tomatoes imported from Egypt were also rejected for containing chlorpyrifos.
Turkey also linked to repeated alerts
Turkey also appeared once again in connection with repeated alerts involving vegetables. In May, RASFF reported rejections of Turkish peppers due to the presence of cyflumetofen, fosthiazate and formetanate, as well as rejections of Turkish tomatoes containing indoxacarb residues, another plant protection active substance banned in the EU.
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Other third countries that continued to accumulate RASFF alerts included Pakistan, with clothianidin, acetamiprid and chlorpyrifos detected in basmati rice; Peru, due to excessive cadmium levels in avocados; as well as Vietnam and China.
Related news: 166% increase in detections of Egyptian citrus fruit with unauthorised active substances.
AVA-ASAJA calls for stronger EU action
The president of AVA-ASAJA, Cristóbal Aguado, warns that “the agricultural products we produce in Europe, in addition to being closer and fresher, offer greater guarantees in terms of health, traceability and sustainability. We comply with the most rigorous quality standards in the world, while imports transported from thousands of kilometres away are associated with a higher carbon footprint and, in many countries, are linked to food alerts that are harmful to consumer health”.
In this regard, AVA-ASAJA reiterates that EU institutions “must stop looking the other way in the face of these breaches and adopt firm measures against countries that repeatedly accumulate alerts, as is the case with Egypt and Turkey”.
