Bureaucracy seems to have taken a swipe at the fresh produce industry this week, with the fate of many container-loads of Indian grapes very much up in the air due to concerns over potential non-compliance.

Growth retardant chlormequat has come under the spotlight - a substance for which there is no outright ban in the EU, but which is not authorised for use on grape imports. Confused? You will be. The European Commission has very helpfully placed the onus on individual member states to assess the situation and decide whether or not to go ahead and sell the product.

Meanwhile, British top-fruit growers have expressed their anger yet again at the numerous certification hurdles they must leap over in order to get their product onto retail shelves, and simultaneously the Rural Payments Agency has come under fire for its “mapping fiasco”.

The issue of regulation will never go away in the food trade - and rightly so, as consumer safety depends on the correct implementation of such rules.

However, there is always a fine line to be drawn between overburdening suppliers and importers, but also ensuring a safe, affordable supply of fresh produce that ticks all the boxes as far as retailers - and the end consumer - are concerned.

The authorities in charge must ensure they make life as easy as possible for suppliers, if they want to prevent the industry from getting bogged down in a swamp of red tape and unnecessary form-filling.

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