Brussels, 31/07/2001 (Agence Europe) - Without being perfect, the results of the sanitary checks carried out in the Union on the pesticide residues in fruit, vegetables and cereals are encouraging. They nevertheless post two contradictory trends: a welcome reduction in the percentage of foodstuffs contaminated by these substances harmful for health and the environment, but a concerning increase in the levels of pesticides in contaminated foods, beyond the tolerable levels.
The report that has just been published by the European Commission's Food and Veterinary office, in the framework of the 1999 monitoring programme, in fact reveals that out of 40,000 samples analysed, 64% contained no detectable residue. In 32% of the cases where residues were detected (against 40% in 1998), the levels of residues were below the maximum residue limits authorised by legislation and thus do not represent a danger for the consumer. On the other hand - and it is here where things are concerning - 4.3% of samples taken by the Member States contained a level of residue exceeding the maximum values (against 3% in 1998), and this in a growing proportion compared to the previous levels. This trend was confirmed by the Community monitoring programme, which notes that 8.7% of the 4,700 samples of cabbage, pepper, wheat and melons exceeded these limits in all the Member States of the Union, Iceland and Norway.
This report (the second of its kind) is the summary of the results of the national monitoring programme, implemented by the Member States authorities and the Community programme, coordinated by the Commission. Each test being capable of detecting more than one hundred pesticides, the control totals around 4 million individual detection operations carried out with retailers, wholesalers, on the markets, at the entry of the Community for imported foodstuffs and in the agri-foodstuff industry.
Commenting on these results, David Byrne, Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection stated: "Exceeding the maximum residue limits by any amount is too much - even when it does not necessarily indicate a health risk. Foodstuffs must comply with the MRLs that are laid down and producers must respect the statutory limits. The Commission and Member States must continue to work together to ensure that manufacturers and users of plant protection products take the necessary precautions to ensure that pesticides are safely used". The complete report may be found at the Internet address: http: //europa.eu.int/food/fs/inspections/fnaoi/reports/mon_rep/index_en.html.