The Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC) says it needs more evidence today on the burden high-risk import controls are putting on the industry.
Importers are being asked to share their experience of the impact of EC Regulation 669/2009, which introduced increased controls on so-called high risk imports of certain fresh produce in January this year, before the weekend.
FPC ceo Nigel Jenney said: “This poorly thought out regulation fails to meet standards for effective, risk-based and proportionate regulation. Increased checks, delays in clearance, additional storage costs, damage and loss of products and their disposal have devastated many importers and suppliers of highly perishable products. The full impact of the regulation must be put in front of the Food Standards Agency and the European Commission to influence its review.”
Traders are dismayed that there is no recognition of the fact that many highly reputable operators in the UK trade have made considerable investment in securing accreditation from GlobalGAP and others, with independently verified records of pesticide monitoring. Jenney said: “We shall be calling on the FSA and the commission to take this into account through the implementation of an assured trader scheme.”
And while FPC has always made clear it supports the objective of the regulation to safeguard public health where a real risk is identified, it is adamant that the inclusion of products must be on the basis of sound evidence of risk guided by established criteria.
The Food Standards Agency has given a tight timeframe for the industry to provide evidence in order to prepare for the European Commission’s first quarterly review of the regulation which takes place in June. The review will focus on the list of high-risk products in Annex I, but evidence has been requested additionally on the effects of the regulation on businesses and port health authorities.
The regulation introduced increased controls setting out the frequency of physical checks and pesticide residue monitoring required for certain foodstuffs from third countries. The list includes bananas, mangoes, yard-long beans, bitter melon, lauki, peppers and aubergines from the Dominican Republic; pears and capsicum, courgettes and tomatoes from Turkey; and vegetables including yard-long beans, aubergines and brassicas from Thailand.
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