More EU pesticide residue alerts for rice shipments from Pakistan than India this year
The European Union’s alert on the presence of pesticide residues in rice consignments, particularly basmati, from India and Pakistan increased in 2023. However, there have been more alerts on shipments from Pakistan than from India so far this year.
On the other hand, the presence of mycotoxin, which appears when the crop is infected by mold or a fungus and is considered harmful to consumers, is more in the case of Pakistan compared to India.
Data from the Luxembourgbased Eurofins Scientific SE, which provides laboratory testing services worldwide in food and other items, alerts under the rapid alert system for food and feed (RASFF) in Europe for pesticides increased to 46 in 2023 from 31 in 2022 and 11 in 2021 in the case of India.
FREQUENT ONES
Until May 5 this year, 15 alerts have been made. In the case of mycotoxins, two alerts have been issued on consignments from India this year compared with two for the whole of 2023, 10 in 2022 and 0 in 2021.
In Pakistan’s case, there have been 26 alerts so far for residue this year against 44 in 2023, 9 in 2022 and 6 in 2021. In the case of mycotoxin, there were 10 alerts in 2023 and two so far this year compared with 42 in 2022.
Werner Nader, Eurofins, Hamburg, Germany, and Nadeem Akbar Khan, SCBS, Lahore, Pakistan, said in an article on “Export of Pakistan rice to the European Union - A success story with challenges ahead” that pesticides most frequently found in 2022 and 2023 above the MRL were tricycazole (43 findings in Indian and 4 in Pakistani rice) and the neonicotinoids thiamethoxam (8 findings in Indian rice), acetamiprid and imidacloprid (4 alerts for Pakistani rice).
CRITICAL RESIDUES
However, the bigger concern was over pesticides such as chlorpyrifos-ethyl (3 for India and Pakistan each), and hexaconazole (2 alerts in Pakistani rice), they said.
Data show that the detection of critical pesticides, especially tricyclazole, carbendazim, propiconazole, buprofezin, chlorpyrifos-ethyl and the neonicotinoids thiamethoxam and imidacloprid, were decreased in the case of India.
However, in the case of Pakistan, pesticides such as neonicotinoids, acetamiprid, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam were present. Rates for carbendazim and triazophos remained high.
Nader and Khan said high rates of pesticide findings in Pakistani rice are mainly observed for samples of the variety Pusa 1121 and are significantly lower for the varieties Super Basmati, Basmati 515 and 2000.
One of the positives in the data is no trace of geneticallymodified organism (GMO) has been found in either Indian or Pakistan consignments. Trace of GMO found in one of the Indian rice consignments had led to a hue and cry being raised in 2021.