Algerian Radio
Spanish media reports have once again highlighted the persistent lack of safety standards in products imported from Morocco, with the European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) logging dozens of high-risk alerts due to the danger these contaminated products pose to consumer health. Meanwhile, Moroccan experts have described what is happening as a moral scandal driven by the pursuit of quick profit.
In this context, under the headline "Spain withdraws fruits and vegetables coming from Morocco due to pesticides banned in the European Union," the Spanish newspaper El Español reviewed the alerts launched by Spanish health authorities in recent months concerning the safety of food coming from Morocco, following the discovery of banned European Union pesticide residues inside a shipment of vegetables imported from Morocco.
In this context, it cited the entry ban of "parsnip" into Spain after laboratory analyses conducted at the Spanish border control point revealed the presence of "chlorpyrifos" at levels five times higher than the legally permitted limits, in addition to residues of "dithiocarbamates."
It added that the European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) classified this shipment as "serious," prompting Spanish authorities to take immediate measures to prevent its distribution in the markets and to seize and destroy the intercepted quantities before they could reach consumers.
It further explained that "chlorpyrifos" is an organophosphate insecticide that was completely banned by the European Commission in 2020, after scientific and medical studies proved it causes serious genotoxic and neurological effects on human health, particularly regarding the neurological development of children and fetuses, alongside being classified as a potential carcinogen.
In this context, it highlighted the recurrence of health alerts in recent months regarding agricultural products imported from Morocco, which previously included the detection of Hepatitis A virus in shipments of strawberries, and unauthorized pesticide residues in shipments of peppers and tomatoes.
It noted that Spanish agricultural unions continue to denounce these cases and the danger they pose to consumer health, demanding stricter customs controls to ensure that products imported from countries outside the European Union are subject to the same strict health and environmental conditions that Spanish farmers adhere to.
In a related context, Moroccan media reports published statements by nutrition experts who warned of the excessive use of chemicals in agricultural products in Morocco, especially seasonal fruits, which have changed in size and taste and have become a real danger to the health of consumers both inside and outside the country, considering what is happening a "moral crisis" where the main objective has become quick profit.
They also confirmed that there are exaggerated violations in the use of chemicals that help accelerate the ripening of seasonal fruits or produce them out of season, in order to make money, even if it comes at the expense of consumer health.
