FSA recommendation to assess the system of food safety controls in Türkiye/Turkey
Recommendation from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to audit Türkiye's/Turkey’s controls to ensure pesticide residues in Food of Non-Animal Origin (FNAO) products intended for export to Great Britain comply with the specified residue limits laid down in Great Britain legislation.
Background
In May 2023 the FSA nominated its priorities for risk-based third-country audit to Defra’s UK Office for SPS Trade Assurance’s (UK SPS Office), to be considered for inclusion in the UK’s international audit plan. One of these priorities was to audit Türkiye's/Turkey’s control system to ensure FNAO exported to GB complied with our pesticide residue controls for food. High volumes of FNAO imports from Türkiye/Turkey, combined with high levels of non-compliance, warrants further attention on Türkiye's/Turkey’s controls for FNAO commodities destined for export to Great Britain.
There are also several FNAO commodities from Türkiye/Turkey currently subject to additional import control measures. Many of these controls have been in place for several years without sufficient evidence of improvement to warrant their removal, suggesting FNAO hazards, particularly pesticide residues, are not being adequately controlled at a national level.
May 2023 FSA Recommendation
The FSA recommends that the UK seek to audit Türkiye/Turkey with respect to the control and use of pesticides in all FNAO commodities. As a case study the audit should focus particularly on commodities where there are long-standing un-resolved issues of non-compliance.