pesticide Mandarins respond to the Ministry of Agriculture in Albania: Only 3 problematic loads were in export

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has issued a statement to the public about the situation of Albanian Mandarins and the possible presence of pesticides. According to the ministry, over 85% of Albanian Mandarin production has been successfully sold on the domestic and international market, and all the analyses conducted have resulted in positive, without the remains of pesticides.

The declaration also stresses that regular inspections and analyses are ongoing in order to ensure the quality and security of Mandarins and other agricultural products. The ministry has called for consumers and farmers to report every case of lawlessness in order to protect the integrity of the food supply chain and maintain confidence in Albanian products.

Full statement:

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development promotes the consumption of Albanian products for holiday end-of-year and ongoing. For 2024 over 85% of Albanian Mandarin production has been harvested and sold on the domestic and international markets, and in no case in all checks and analyses conducted have resulted from remains of pesticides. Today, Mandarin cultivation lies at over 1,000 ha by market farmers and smaller producers.

Regarding the media debate over the situation of quality and safety of Albanian Mandarins following earlier communications in official statements of Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry, we explain to the public that:

For 2024, they were exported from the cultivation and harvests of Albanian Mandarin 924 trucks to the global European market, of which only 3 total loads have been found in waste irregularities and are eliminated. This report should not harm one year's labor and perspiration of Albanian farmers and at the same time create concern and panic in consumers.

According to the report by the Fast Food and Food Service System RASFF for remains of pesticides in Mandarin exported from the Republic of Albania, The AUK has taken immediate measures for investigative and procedural actions on exporter subjects by taking concrete measures and actions to eliminate 20.482kg of Mandarin elements, on 19.12.24th, in the Fier County, which has been returned from the state of Croatia. The extermination procedure has been carried out along with the presence of the National Environmental Authority, the Taxation Directorate, as well as the presence of several different media.

In collaboration with the National Veterinary and Plant Protection Authority, on the date 19,12.24, joint inspections and evidence were conducted at the Konispol City Village of Mursi, where one of the farmers, who had eliminated the Mandarine product, engages. For amassing subjects resulting in violations of the legal provisions, except there have been criminal charges, according to violations, fine measures have been taken, as well as blocking activity. For tracking the following situation, joint inspections have been conducted every day in Berat County, the Dimal City Hall.

We inform the consumer about the other two charges, reported by Croatia's state for remains of pesticides according to the RASFF system report, that one has been eliminated in the Croatian state, while the other has not yet returned to the country of origin. All PIK have been announced that in the event of product returns, its immediate deadlock with its destination of annihilation will be made.

The National Food Authority follows checks on subjects that trade plant protection products and waste products, where only for this week alone have been checked and verified 46 pM trading subjects, in which no violations of legal provisions were filed. In addition to 18 samples designated in the pesticide monitoring plan for December, for the Mandarine product, with the aim of keeping the situation under control, there have been another 7 samples outside the plan for analysis at the ISUV Reference Laboratory.

Annual inspection of territory from AKU to today receives 806 inspections for pesticide trading and 862 inspections for fertilizer products. A total of 188 samples have been analyzed for 2024, of these for pesticides 28, of which 27 have resulted in conform, and 1 is under way. For waste products, 160 samples have been analysed, of which 24 are under way, 134 have resulted in carbon and 2 non-conform samples, for which trackers have been followed and all measures taken under legislation in effect.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has adopted and implemented the Action Plan for Sustainable Use of Pesticides, which includes the entire chain of action with central stutures and subordinate institutions, without excluding the support of Tirana's Agricultural University, as well as Albanian producers. The purpose of this Action Plan is proper and safe use of PMBs, for protecting plant health to ensure quality and consumer production, and for protecting the environment in which they are used.

Thanks to the work of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development facilities this year, the territory of the Republic of Albania was protected and kept clean from the Vangjel Romanians' Plague disease, even though border sites had huge explosions and damage. They were quickly managed effectively and without damaging the epic situation in the country, the cases of the Avian Influence and the African Pig Plague.

While continued, continued awareness of biologically clean products by biological war, which comes with a fiscal facilitator. The strict use of protocols and the ban on the use of prohibited pestytes in the European Union are also a fact. It requires that even the few farmers who illegally try to understand their use of them realize that there is only one option: the discovery and introduction of the law because checks and tracking is too high. Albanian farmers, producers, collectors and exporters must co-operate to implement the best agricultural practices throughout the production chain, to the consumer.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is transparent and has published on its official site, the list of PMBs and use labels, as well as the list of waste products, which are constantly updated by making it clear to farmers not to use smuggled products that are forbidden in the EU countries and in our country. Farmers, every user or consumer has access to access to full information not only for use, but for the consequences of misusing them.

We call on them for any case of lawlessness, irregularities or abuse that they find to report to the numbers published on the official pages of the MBZHR or addiction institutions to become part of the common responsibility in ensuring and preserving food safety in the country.