2 replies to this topic

[sanidadexterior]

The European Union is the world's largest importer of peanuts. 58% of the peanuts consumed in the EU come from Argentina.

Peanuts are a food product in which several health risks have been identified, including the possible presence of carcinogenic aflatoxins.

Regarding this risk, the EU is more stringent than the Codex.The EU differentiates between aflatoxin B1 (the most toxic) and the sum of aflatoxins (B1, B2, G1, and G2) and also establishes lower maximum levels (4 ppb for peanuts prepared for consumption and 15 for those intended for processing). The Codex tolerates higher maximum levels (10 and 15 ppb).

 In the EU, Regulation 2019/1793 allows for temporary intensified border controls on food products from third countries for which the European Commission has identified a risk or widespread non-compliance. The Commission identified the presence of aflatoxins in peanuts from Argentina as a risk, and included this product in the Annex to Regulation (EU) 2019/1793 in October 2019, with a mandatory sampling and analysis rate at border control of 5%.

 In 2020, the EU imported 526,000 tonnes of Argentine peanuts and made 29 RASFF notifications for Argentine peanuts containing aflatoxins.

In 2021, 18 RASFF notifications were issued for Argentine peanuts due to aflatoxins, 13 of them due to border controls. In 2022, there were 38 notifications, 26 of them due to border controls.

 In 2023, instead of increasing the border sampling rate, which was only 5% (Regulation 2019/1793 has products with sampling rates of up to 50%), the European Commission decided to remove Argentine peanuts from the Regulation, thus no longer carrying out border analytical controls on Argentine peanut imports. That same year, 2023, 18 RASFF notifications were issued for the presence of aflatoxins in Argentine peanuts, 10 of them as a result of self-monitoring by importers.

In 2024, there were 28 notifications, 26 of them as a result of self-monitoring by European importers.

So far in 2025, there have already been 24 notifications, all of them the result of importers' self-monitoring.

The question are: have we privatized the sanitary control of Argentine peanuts in the EU? What is the European Commission waiting for to re-include Argentine peanuts in Regulation EU 2019/1793 so that they can once again be controlled at the border?

For more details see the attached file

 

 

Attached Files

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[BigGaz1982]

It would appear that increasing the border controls would only increase the number of RASSF reports, rather than drive improvement in the supply chain, and self-monitoring requirements work.

 

Why spend money on checks when nothing is improving when you can push that cost onto the supply chain itself. Possibly in the cope that the increased costs for the importers will subsequently push the supply chain to improve so that costly sampling is pushed back into the regulation when the industry can show its compliance with the regulation.

[sanidadexterior]

Regulation (EU) 2019/1793 was established to control the risks arising from imported foodstuffs in which a specific risk has been identified. Its purpose is to pressure third-country authorities to improve the sanitary quality of products exported to the EU. To this end, the regulation has two annexes: Annex I, which only establishes a border sampling frequency, which can be gradually increased if no improvements are seen, and Annex II, which establishes additional documentary requirements: Health Certificates, Analytical Bulletins, etc.

Finally, Annex IIa includes products whose import into the EU is temporarily suspended.

Systematic border sampling at the frequency indicated by Regulation (EU) 2019/1793 entails higher import costs (costs borne by the importer): analytical costs, delays, and possible rejections.

It's assumed that the importer will pass these costs on to the Argentine exporter; otherwise, the European exporter could try to obtain their peanuts from other sources (USA, India, etc.).

All these export difficulties should prompt measures to correct the problem in Argentina.

Let's not forget that we're basically talking about a potential health risk. Aflatoxins are carcinogenic (IARC Group I); each European consumes an average of 5 kg per year. High levels of contamination have been detected.

 

RASFF Window - Notification detail