Customs bars 104 tonnes of pesticide-tainted Israeli oranges

Customs has rejected about 104,000 kilograms of orange imported from Israel early this year, said Finnish Customs in a press release on Tuesday.

The Customs authorities intensified its control on orange import as they discovered the presence of bromopropylate, a pesticide prohibited in the EU, in the imported fruits.

Customs examined and rejected the first consignment of oranges in February. By mid-April, Customs had examined 16 consignments and rejected half of them weighing about 104,000kgs or 104 metric tonnes because of the presence of bromopropylate in them.

“We examine the first consignments that arrive in Finland always at the start of a new harvest season. As we discovered problems with the consignments, we decided to continue with controls until the end of the orange harvest season in Israel. Most likely we will also conduct intensified controls during the next harvest season,” said Jonna Neffing, head of Product Safety at Finnish Customs.

Consignments that were found to be non-compliant with regulations were prevented from entering the market.

During the examinations, the oranges were stored at warehouses of the importers. Only those consignments confirmed as safe for consumption were allowed to end up in shops.

“We have not found bromopropylate in any of the products we have examined for several years. Its presence in Israeli oranges this year was a surprise,” said Suvi Ojanperä, head of the Customs division responsible for chemical examinations of foodstuffs.

Bromopropylate is a pesticide used for repelling ticks found in citrus fruits. The EU prohibited its use entirely in 2011, as it could not be proven safe for consumers.

Each year, Customs examines about 3,000 consignments of imported foodstuffs and searches for pesticide residues in about 1,000 samples.