Today, the Commission has published the results of border checks carried out by EU countries in 2014 on imports of fruits and vegetables that are subject to an increased level of official controls. The report presents the results of controls on almost 100 000 consignments carried out at EU borders.
Over 11 000 of these controls led to laboratory analyses, which resulted in 496 consignments (4.4% of those that underwent controls) being found to be in breach of EU legislation and being prevented from entering the EU market. This is a slight increase as compared with 2013, when 4.1% of consignments were stopped at EU borders.
Today’s report demonstrates that the increased level of controls on fruit and vegetables, introduced by the Commission Regulation (EC/669/2009) plays an important role in protecting consumers from potential food safety risks.
Some products achieved satisfactory levels of compliance and were therefore removed from the list of imports targeted for controls:
- Pomelos from China (tested for pesticide residues)
- Oranges from Egypt (tested for pesticide residues)
- Coriander and basil from Thailand (tested for pesticide residues)
- Curry from India (tested for aflatoxins)
- Dried noodles from China (tested for the presence of aluminium)
- Frozen strawberries from China (tested for norovirus and hepatitis A virus)
- Coriander, basil and mint from Thailand (tested for the presence of salmonella)
On the other hand, several new commodities were included in the list:
- Aubergines, Chinese celery and yardlong beans from Cambodia (pesticide residues)
- Table grapes from Peru (pesticide residues)
- Vine leaves from Turkey (pesticide residues)
- Dragon fruit from Viet Nam (pesticide residues)
- Betel leaves from India and Thailand (salmonella)
- Sesamum seeds from India (salmonella)
- Enzymes from India (chloramphenicol)
- Groundnuts from Sudan (aflatoxins)
- Dried apricots from Turkey (sulphites)