The National Food Authority did not properly handle an alert from the European System for Food Safety (RASFF) for strawberries exported from Albania with high levels of pesticides. Also, after it was returned to Albania, it is not known whether the product was destroyed. These are some of the findings of the KLSH in a recently published report.
According to data in 2021, the RASFF system reported that a quantity of 10,700 kg of strawberries exported from Albania to Croatia by the company “A” Sh.pk resulted in the content of the pesticide Tebuconazole 0.09 mg/kg, a systemic fungicide that according to the analysis of the Croatian authorities was above the permitted limits of the European Union and potentially harmful to the health of consumers. As a result, the product was rejected at the border and returned to Albania on the same date, 30 April 2021.
According to the audit, the institutional response was delayed and incomplete by AKU Fier, with a delay of 4 days. In the inspection report, the company stated that there was no more product in stock in the warehouse, as the strawberries had been returned to the farmers who had supplied them.
The audit also reveals discrepancies in the analysis documentation. A laboratory report presented as evidence by the inspection turned out to belong to another product: lettuce and not the exported strawberries. Meanwhile, according to the controlled documents, the company had purchased strawberries from different farmers in Fier in several invoices, with quantities ranging from 1270 kg to over 3400 kg per supply, but the procedure for returning the product to the farmers was carried out without notifying the National Food Authority.
The audit highlights that the suspected unsafe product was returned to the farmers without the control and knowledge of the authorities, while there is no evidence whether the strawberries were destroyed or reintroduced into the market. There is also no documentary evidence of verifications at border points, blocking of the product or destruction procedures required by food safety legislation.
At the end of the inspection, the company was only imposed an administrative fine of 200,000 lek for violating the Law “On Food”. According to the audit, this sanction is not proportional to the risk created, as the law also provides for more severe measures such as blocking the activity or criminal charges, in cases where unsafe products may endanger the health of consumers.
The report also highlights another systemic problem. At the time of the incident, Albania did not have a specific guideline for the maximum level of pesticide residues in strawberries. Only on May 10, 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture approved a new guideline that set the maximum limit for the pesticide Tebuconazole at 15 mg/kg, much higher than the European Union standard and that of Croatia, where the limit is 0.02 mg/kg. The difference between the two standards amounts to 14.98 mg/kg.
According to the audit, only in 2025 did Albania finally harmonize this indicator with EU norms, setting the same maximum limit of 0.02 mg/kg for the pesticide Tebuconazole in strawberries./ekofin.al
