Tightening of border controls, EU announces more inspections against banned pesticides

Brussels – More border controls and new rules to combat the import of food, animal, and plant products that do not comply with EU rules. At a meeting with representatives of the food industry this morning, 9 December, the Commissioner for Animal Health and Welfare,
Olivér Várhelyi, outlined several measures to strengthen food safety in the Union. “We had some very good ideas on how to reduce administrative burdens, at the same time increase the efficiency and effectiveness of our controls and ensure very high safety standards all along the way, when entering the internal market,” he said at the end of the dialogue.

The context to be managed, as clarified by the Hungarian commissioner, is that of “an agri-food import that amounts to almost €160 billion per year.” Entering the EU, however, are not only goods and livestock that meet EU food standards, but also non-compliant products. The most difficult battle to be waged is over the import of foodstuffs containing traces of pesticides banned in Europe. “If these pesticides are not allowed in the EU for health protection reasons, they should not be present as residues in our food,” said Várhelyi, aware that, however, some products evade this control.

This is precisely why a task force to monitor border inspections was announced. The action plan is to “increase, already from January, the level of controls both inside and outside the EU.” At the operational level, a new phase will begin with a 50% increase in audits in non-EU countries and a 33% increase in European border checkpoints to verify that Member States conduct inspections. The places most closely monitored will be, as the Commissioner reminds us, “our main points of entry, i.e., seaports.” 

Failure to enforce EU rules carries the risk of unfair competition. Farmers have been concerned about this for a long time, especially in view of the entry into force of the MERCOSUR agreement. South American countries are major food producers, but their rules for food production and processing differ significantly from those of the Union. From the meeting with the producers, the Commission therefore comes out, as Commissioner Várhelyi says, with “the objective of taking our food safety to a higher level.”

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