EU: Additional Official Controls on Organic Products
Following an in-depth review of all the notifications entered into the Organic Farming Information System (OFIS) over a period of one year, the European Commission decided that a number of products originating in certain third countries should be subjected to additional controls in 2023.
Products of concern:
| Country | Product | CN-code | Sampling percentages |
| Tunisia | dates | 0804 10 00 | 10% |
| Türkiye | hazelnuts | 0802 22 00
2007 99 97 |
10% |
For consignments of products sampled according to the percentages defined above, the control body should take at least one representative sample of the consignment.
EU: Rules on the Temporary Increase of Official Controls
According to the European Commission, recent notifications received through the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) indicate the existence of direct or indirect risks to human health. Moreover, official controls performed by the Member States on some food and feed of non-animal origin in the first semester of 2022 indicate that the lists set out in Annexes I and II to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1793 should be amended.
Measures:
- Delisting from Regulation of groundnuts and products produced from groundnuts from Argentina.
- Delisting from Regulation of groundnuts and products produced from groundnuts from Madagascar.
- Removal from Annex I and inclusion in Annex II of groundnuts and products produced from groundnuts from Bolivia.
- Increase in the frequency of identity and physical checks laid down in Annex I for groundnuts and products produced from groundnuts from Brazil due to pesticide contamination to 30%.
- Removal from Annex II and inclusion in Annex I of Brazil nuts in shell and mixtures of Brazil nuts or dried fruits containing Brazil nuts in shell from Brazil.
- Increase in the frequency of identity and physical checks laid down in Annex II for dried figs and products derived from dried figs from Türkiye to 30%.
The regulation establishes a transitional period for consignments of groundnuts and products produced from groundnuts from Bolivia. According to a corrigendum published by the European Commission, consignments may enter the EU until April 16, 2023 without being accompanied by the results of sampling and analyses and the official certificate provided for in Articles 10 and 11.
EU: Updates on MRLs
The European Commission has published new maximum residue levels for certain pesticides.
Abamectin (new MRL) and bifenazate (proposed):
| Commodities | MRLs (mg/kg) |
| Tree nuts | 0.01 |
Cyromazine (new MRL):
| Commodities | MRLs (mg/kg) |
| Fruits, fresh or frozen; Tree nuts | 0.01 |
| Peanuts | 0.01 |
Topramezone (new MRL):
| Commodities | MRLs (mg/kg) |
| Fruits, fresh or frozen; Tree nuts | 0.005 |
| Peanuts | 0.005 |
Cyfluthrin (new MRL):
| Commodities | New MRLs (mg/kg) |
| Cranberries | 0.01 |
Metobromuron (new MRL):
| Commodities | New MRLs (mg/kg) |
| Fruits, fresh or frozen; Tree nuts | 0.02 |
Cycloxydim (new MRL):
| Commodities | New MRLs (mg/kg) |
| Tree nuts | 0.09 |
| Peanuts | 0.09 |
EU: EFSA Scientific Opinion on the Tolerable Upper Intake Level for Selenium
The EFSA Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on the tolerable upper intake level (UL) for selenium. Published on January 20, 2023, the report states that adult consumers are unlikely to exceed the UL, except for regular users of food supplements containing high daily doses of selenium or regular consumers of Brazil nuts. No risk has been reported with the current levels of selenium intake in European countries from food (excluding food supplements) in toddlers and children, and selenium intake arising from the natural content of foods does not raise reasons for concern.
EU: EFSA Commodity Risk Assessment of P. Dulcis Plants from Türkiye
The European Commission requested the EFSA Panel on Plant Health to prepare and deliver risk assessments for commodities listed in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019 as ‘High risk plants, plant products and other objects ‘.
This Scientific Opinion covers plant health risks posed by plants of Prunus persica and P. dulcis as budwood/graftwood, rooted or grafted on rootstocks of either P. persica, P. dulcis, P. armeniaca, P. davidiana or their hybrids, imported from Türkiye, taking into account the available scientific information, including the technical information provided by Türkiye.
For the selected pests, an expert judgement is given on the likelihood of pest freedom taking into consideration the risk mitigation measures acting on the pest, including uncertainties associated with the assessment. The degree of pest freedom varies among the pests evaluated, with fungi form Botryosphaeriaceae family (L. pseudotheobromae, N. dimidiatum and N. novaehollandiae) being the pests most frequently expected on the imported plants.
USA: Pesticide Tolerances for Fluridone
Effective since January 20, 2023, this regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency establishes tolerances for residues of fluridone in or on multiple commodities, including tree nuts and peanuts.
| Commodity | Parts per million |
| Tree nuts | 0.1 |
| Peanut | 0.1 |
| Peanut, hay | 0.15 |
Objections and requests for hearings must be received on or before March 21, 2023.