Morocco Suspends Licenses of Watermelon Exporters Over EU Pesticide Violation

Last week, a batch of watermelons from Morocco had been withdrawn from the Spanish market due to high levels of methomyl. The Moroccan authorities have just taken measures against those responsible for the export of these watermelons, said sources from the National Office of Sanitary Safety (ONSSA) to EFE, specifying that the health and export licenses of the producers concerned have been suspended.

As soon as the notification of the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (Rasff), indicating the strong presence of methomyl in watermelons exported to Spain, the ONSSA conducted investigations to "trace the shipment and determine the marketing circuit of the pesticide", which led to the imposition of sanctions against the people involved in the export of these watermelons.

Only one batch of Moroccan watermelons is concerned by the alert, the same sources assure, recalling that Morocco has had only five Rasff notifications on its fruits and vegetables out of a total of 497 alerts issued by this system on vegetables and fruits imported from all regions of the world in Europe. Spanish farmers, for their part, denounce the entry of Moroccan watermelons containing a high rate of pesticide, calling on the community authorities to