THE GLOBAL WINDOW OF TURKISH FOOD AND AGRICULTURE The Global Window of Turkish Food and Agriculture Sector
Related Articles
Ümit Mirza Çavuşoğlu, Chairman of the Western Mediterranean Exporters’ Association (BAİB), called on the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to deregulate the fees for special request analyses that exporters use to minimize pesticide residue notifications in the export of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Speaking to journalists, Çavuşoğlu underlined that an effective fight against pesticide residues is being carried out in the export of fresh fruits and vegetables, and that exporters are acting very sensitively in this regard.
He noted that products undergo the necessary analyses to avoid being returned and are even subjected to additional special request analyses beyond the official ones. He stated that this practice has led to a significant decrease in pesticide residue notifications.
Çavuşoğlu said that the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has issued a new regulation on the pricing of special request analyses in the export of fresh fruits and vegetables, which came into effect as of February 1.
He explained that the regulation stipulates that special request analysis fees are to be determined by the ministry and could not be lower than the official analysis fees.
Highlighting that last year, the cost of special request analyses ranged between 700 and 1,300 Turkish Liras, he added, “Currently, the price has risen to around 3,600 Turkish Liras and the VAT, which is quite substantial. Exporters are conducting these analyses voluntarily, without any legal requirement or necessity for an official document, just to avoid problems abroad. If prices remain this high, the pesticide residue problem may get worse. The more analyses are conducted, the better the outcomes. We’ve seen a significant improvement in product returns from EU countries — in the past three years, return rates have dropped from 0.2% to 0.1%. Special request analyses have played a major role in this progress.”
Çavuşoğlu noted that they conveyed their concerns and the demand for deregulation of special request analysis fees to ministry officials and are expecting a positive response.
“Returned Products Are Destroyed”
Çavuşoğlu also addressed claims that products returned due to pesticide residues are being sold in the domestic market, announcing them as misinformation.
Emphasizing that returned products are subjected to re-analysis and if any residue is detected, they are destroyed, he concluded, “If any residue is found, the products are disposed of. These types of products are never released into the domestic market. In fact, it’s very easy to distinguish them — their packaging and processing are very different. Rest assured, we are confident that such products do not enter the domestic market, and you can be sure of that too.”
Source: Anadolu Agency
