Official Controls and Measures Increased on the Entry of Some Turkish Agricultural Products Into the EU

The Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has determined to increase the frequency of checks on shipments to the EU. For lemons, it is expected to increase from 20% to 30% and for grapefruit from 10% to 30% due to the high rate of non-compliance with pesticide residues, followed by increasing frequency of checks in dried thyme and cumin seeds from 10% to 20% due to contamination with pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Additionally, this control measure also includes the determination of the control of sesame seeds' frequency as 20% in Annex I of the Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1793 cause of the risks to human health due to a possible Salmonella contamination as well as an increase of the frequency of controls for dried figs and products obtained from dried figs from 20% to 30% due to aflatoxin contamination.