India APEDA: Chillies at high risk with regard to carbofuran residues

A recent advisory by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has put fresh green and red chillies, slated to be exported to the European Union (EU), in the high-risk list as far as residues of carbofuran, a pesticide, are concerned.

“The product that has been added to the high-risk list is peppers (Capsicum spp), other than sweet ones, in the frozen, fresh or chilled forms. Those exported by India will be tested for pesticide residues at a frequency of 10 per cent,” it added. The regulation came into effect on January 1, 2018.

A draft issued by EU said, “Information received from the relevant source, in particular, for consignments of peppers (Capsicum spp) from India indicates the emergence of new risks.”

“Therefore, the introduction of an increased level of official controls is required. It is mandatory for those consignments to be inspected,” it stated.

Aaha Impex Pvt Ltd, Maharashtra, is engaged in the export of chillies. A spokesperson from the company said, “Chillies are very complicate commodity. The most important factor while trading in chillies is the high quality, as there are a lot of adulteration cases in the country.”

“The advisory will not impact the export initially, but over a period of time, it will, as a few exporters are still not yet aware about this move,” he added.

Arpita Mukherjee, professor, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), informed, “The European Commission (EC) published Regulation (EC) Number 2017/2298, in which it placed Indian peppers (except capsicum), such as green and red chillies, in the high-risk category for pesticide residues of carbofuran.”

From January 1, 2018, the EC has mandated that 10 per cent of export consignments from India would be randomly subjected to physical and identity checks at the EU member state destinations.

In light of the advisory issued by APEDA, exporters should take care that their consignment does not contain pesticide residues of carbofuran beyond the permissible limit. If it does, they will face high chances of rejection.