The European Union (EU) has detected the first batches of oranges from Egypt containing pesticide residues exceeding the maximum residue limit and other plant protection products prohibited for citrus fruits in Europe. The detections were made by the EU’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF).
The Valencian Association of Farmers (AVA-ASAJA) reported that Egyptian oranges were intercepted in Italy with chlorpropham at a residue level that exceeds EU regulations by up to 21 times. Chlorpropham is a herbicide and growth regulator that has been banned in the EU since 2019.
AVA-ASAJA stated that this is not an isolated case, as fruits and vegetables from Egypt have already accumulated seven non-compliance notifications reported by the RASFF so far in 2026. In 2025, Egypt recorded 131 interceptions, including 83 in fruits and vegetables and 26 in citrus fruits. In 2024, it reached its historical maximum of 180 interceptions — 86 in fruits and vegetables and 34 in citrus fruits. Over the last five years, Egypt has registered a total of 672 detections.
“Egypt is a country that is consistently violating food safety regulations and is jeopardizing the health of European consumers,” said the president of AVA-ASAJA, Cristóbal Aguado. He appealed to commercial operators, importers and large retail chains to “prioritize citrus fruits grown in the EU, which adhere to much stricter standards … if they are committed to offering their customers freshness, food safety and sustainability in the agricultural products they sell.”
Aguado urged consumers to “buy citrus fruits from here, which, unlike those from Egypt and other non-EU countries, guarantee the highest standards of health and environmental protection. We have much to learn from the French and Italians, who buy their own produce first and only when they have exhausted their domestic supply do they turn to imports. If we stop consuming our own oranges, our citrus growers will disappear, and with them, an irreplaceable heritage.”
Aguado said that “the enemies of the countryside are in Brussels, opening Europe’s doors to imports under conditions of unfair competition, and it is high time they translate their fine words into actions, applying the controls and sanctions they have announced.”
Source: AVA-ASAJA
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