Oranges from Egypt withheld from local market
A consignment of 24 tonnes of oranges dispatched from Egypt and intended to the local market was withheld after samples were taken for the presence of pesticides and indicated that maximum residue levels for the chemical ethion had been exceeded.
This consignment has just been withheld by the Port Health Services within the Health Inspectorate Services.
The levels were determined according to guidelines indicated in Regulation (EC) number 396/2005 as amended by Regulation (UE) number 410/2011 on maximum residue levels of pesticides in or on food and feed of plant and animal origin.
Malta will be informing EU member states of these results through the ‘Rapid alert system for food and feed.
This necessary monitoring was carried out by Commission Regulation (EC) Number 669 of 2009 and as required to be done in such cases.