One in three (35.3%) shipments of fruit and vegetables imported from Turkey to European Union countries was found to contain an excessive amount of pesticides, according to a statement by the Association of Greek Exporters, Traders of Fruits, Vegetables and Juices INCOFRUIT-HELLAS, which cites elements of the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF).

In particular, during the first half of 2023 the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed received a total of 272 alerts due to the high presence of pesticides in fruit and vegetables that have reached the Member States, either from third countries or from the EU itself.

The Turkish product with the highest number of pesticide overdose cases is peppers, where a total of 41 cases were detected. Next are lemons, with 28 cases of high concentration of pesticides, mandarins with 10 alerts and tomatoes with 6 cases, while the rest of the alerts are spread between different fruit and vegetable products.

Turkey is followed by Egypt with a total of 42 alerts, of which 30 corresponded to oranges, 3 to peppers while the remaining nine alerts correspond to various fruits and vegetables.

According to the same announcement, 18 notifications came for fruits and vegetables from India, 15 from Kenya, 13 from Sri Lanka, 7 from China and Vietnam, 6 from Bangladesh and 5 from Madagascar.

The remaining notices are allocated to a total of 32 countries that sold their fruit and vegetables on Community markets.

Bulgaria was the European Union country with the most rejections of fruit and vegetable cargoes from Turkey.

It is noted that according to ELSTAT data, in the five months of 2023, our country imported from Turkey 7,326 tons of fruits and vegetables (worth 13.533 million euros), with 1,100 corresponding to zucchini, 952 tons to peppers and sweet peppers, 253 tons tomatoes and 52 tons of lemons.