WRITTEN QUESTION P-1890/98

by Vincenzo Viola (PPE) to the Commission

(9 June 1998)

Subject: Importation into Sicily of lemons from outside the Community

There have been instances in Sicily where lemons from Argentina have been unlawfully imported via Spain, Austria and Portugal. Once on the internal market, this citrus fruit is sent to Italy without any restrictions despite the fact that Italy has been declared a " protected area ", under the terms of which citrus fruit from countries outside the Community cannot be imported into Italy for plant protection reasons.

Is the Commission aware of the health risk caused by marketing these citrus fruits,which have been grown in countries which permit the use of extremely toxic pesticides and are subsequently offered for sale in places where these pesticides are illegal?

What measures does the Commission intend to take to control such unlawful imports, which endanger the health of European consumers?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(8 July 1998)

The current phytosanitary regime applicable to the import of citrus fruit into the Community is specified in Council Directive 77/93/EEC on protective measures against the introduction into the Community of organisms harmful to plants or plant products(1) and against their spread within the Community, as last amended by Commission Directive 98/2/EC(2).

As for the recognition of Italy as a protected zone for citrus fruit originating in third countries, to which the Honourable Member refers, the Commission would inform the Honourable Member that, by Commission Directive 96/15/EC of 14 March 1996 amending Directive 92/76/EEC recognizing protected zones exposed to particular plant health risks in the Community, the said protected zone, which aimed at protection against unspecified harmful organisms and for which a ban on the introduction of third country citrus fruit was introduced, was not extended beyond 1 April 1996 on the grounds that a protection against unspecified organisms was considered inappropriate under internationally established principles and cannot be justified scientifically. Thus, in order to comply with the Community's international obligations under the World trade organization (WTO), the said phytosanitary regime for the import of citrus fruit into the Community covering, amongst others, protective measures against citrus canker, citrus leaf spot and citrus black spot, became applicable to all parts of the Community.

The Commission would emphasise that these measures have recently been improved by Directive 98/2/EC to ensure continued adequate protection to all citrus production areas of the Community, and that, within the phytosanitary responsabilities of the Commission, activities are carried out for the purpose of ensuring the correct and uniform application of the provisions of Council Directive 77/93/EEC.

Moreover, the non-application of Community legislation by Italy and the action taken by Italy to continue to ban the introduction of the relevant citrus fruit originating in third countries is at present subject to detailed examination by the Commission in order to determine the appropriate steps to be envisaged.

The Commission is aware that the presence of residues of highly toxic non-authorised pesticides in or on food products may present a risk to consumers. Monitoring of pesticide residues in food products is the responsibility of the authorities of the Member States. The Commission has so far not been informed by the Italian authorities of the detection of any unacceptable residues or levels of residues of pesticides on lemons coming from third countries.

(1) OJ L 26, 31.1.1977.

(2) OJ L 15, 21.1.1998.