The Department of Agriculture of Philippines has notified the World Trade Organization of the Draft Philippine National Standard (PNS) for the General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Food and Feed (GSTCFF).The Draft set the maximum levels (ML) of contaminants and natural toxicants in food and feed applicable in trade. It includes sections on the maximum and guideline levels for contaminants and toxins per commodity and the methods of sampling and analysis.As for nuts and dried fruits, the proposed ML of total aflatoxins (B1+B2+G1+G2) are the following:
- Almonds “ready-to-eat”, whole commodity after removal of shell: 10 ppb.
- Almonds intended for further processing, whole commodity after removal of shell: 15 ppb.
- Brazil nuts “ready-to-eat”, whole commodity: 10 ppb.
- Brazil nuts intended for further processing, whole commodity: 15 ppb.
- Hazelnuts “ready-to-eat”, whole commodity after removal of shell: 10 ppb.
- Hazelnuts intended for further processing, whole commodity after removal of shell: 15 ppb.
- Peanuts “ready-to-eat”, unless specified, seed or kernels, after removal of shell or husk: 10 ppb.
- Peanuts intended for further processing, unless specified, seed or kernels, after removal of shell or husk: 15 ppb.
- Pistachios “ready-to-eat”, whole commodity after removal of shell: 10 ppb.
- Pistachios intended for further processing, whole commodity after removal of shell: 15 ppb.
- Dried figs “ready-to-eat”, whole commodity: 10 ppb.
The final date for comments is November 11, 2016.For further information, please contact us at inc@nutfruit.org.