The Spices Board has made it mandatory for exporters to get export consignments of curry leaves to the European Union countries that it should be “subjected to Cleared Analytical Reports on pesticides such as Profenofos, Triazophos and Endosulfan” from January 18.
circular issued
According to official sources, the Board has issued a circular to this effect a few days ago following notifications from the European Union on curry leaf originating from India being contaminated with pesticide residues.
They said the minimum quantity required for the analysis is 500 gram of each sample.
The permissible maximum residue levels are – Profenofos – 0.05 mg/kg (ppm); Triazophos – 0.01 mg/kg (ppm) and Endosulfan – 0.05 mg/kg (ppm). The Board, they said, has fixed a fee of Rs 3,000 plus tax for the analysis on the three parameters.
EU alert system
A EU Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed alert notification claimed that reinforced controls for pesticide residues in 2011 identified two food items from India – curry leaves and Okra – as having multi-residue of pesticides in consignments that were checked.
The European Union has introduced, over a decade ago, the rapid alert system method to check the vegetables, fruits, etc imported into its member countries for chemical/pesticides residues.
EU used to send an ‘alert notification’ or ‘alert’ when a food, feed or food contact material presenting a serious risk is on the market and when rapid action is or might be required in another country than the notifying country.
Alerts are triggered by the member of the network that detects the problem and has initiated the relevant measures, such as withdrawal or recall.
The notification aims at giving all the members of the network the information to verify whether the concerned product is on their market, so that they can take the necessary measures.