EU strengthens controls on fruit and vegetable imports

The countries of the European Union (EU) stepped up their border controls on imports of products of plant origin, such as fruit, vegetables and nuts, to avoid getting shipments with traces of pesticides or other substances harmful to health.

The EU toughened controls on imports of fruit and vegetables with pesticide residues. In the photo, a worker sprayed some fruit crops.

Yesterday (25/01) the new regulation will be enforced for the first time, establishing common rules for official inspections of the entry into community territory of certain food or feed from third countries which do not have animal origin.

Thus, there will be "systematic” customs checks of documents attached to imports of such products and "physical" inspections will be less frequent, according to EU sources.

The objective of this surveillance is to prevent items that come with substances that could endanger human or animal health, such as "aflatoxin" nuts or pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables.

The European Commission (EC) regularly monitors the implementation of this standard by countries.

In addition, Brussels will review a quarterly list of products affected by these rules, taking into account national experiences and the latest scientific data to ensure that the EU has a "high protection" of the consumer, the sources said.