Morocco sanctions those responsible for exporting methomyl watermelons to Spain

Morocco has taken action against those responsible for exporting watermelons with excess methomyl traces to the European Union (EU) by suspending their sanitary and export licenses, sources from the National Office for Sanitary Security (ONSSA) reported.

The sources indicated that the ONSSA troops opened an investigation as soon as they received a notification from the community Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (Rasff) about the presence of traces of a pesticide, methomyl, above the permitted levels, in watermelons. from the North African country and exported to Spain.

“It has been possible to identify the field in question and trace the shipment of exported watermelons, and investigations have been carried out to determine the marketing channel for the pesticide,” the sources explained.

As a result of the investigations, measures were taken by suspending the health license of the watermelon packaging unit and the export license of the person responsible for sending this product to the EU.

A single load of watermelons

The sources specified that it is a single load of watermelons and “not all exports destined for this market.”

At the same time, ONSSA sources stressed that since the beginning of 2023, Morocco has only registered five Rasff notifications on fruits and vegetables from Morocco out of a total of 497 alerts issued by this system on vegetables and fruits imported into Europe since all regions.

The European Commission (EC) has recently warned about the presence of watermelons from Morocco with traces of methomyl, above the permitted levels, after receiving a notice from Spain through the Rasff system.

The notification occurred on the 14th, with an update on the 20th, through the Rasff system, through which Spain communicated the alert to the EC, which in turn sent the information to the rest of the EU countries.