A double standard in global trade and EU health protection: How Europe’s banned pesticides end up on our plates

08 October 2024

A new report by PAN Europe reveals that hazardous pesticides banned in Europe can still be found in European consumers’ diets.

These toxic pesticides, often produced by European companies, are exported to countries with weaker safety regulations. The EU then imports food grown with these pesticides, allowing residues to be detected in food. 

The EU exports these banned pesticides mainly to low- and middle-income countries with weaker environmental and health protections.

The report indicates that tea, coffee, spices and legumes had the highest contamination rates.

According to the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed, from all the foods that were rejected or removed from the market due to chemical contamination problems, only 0.2% were related to the presence of pesticides not permitted in the EU. This casts serious doubts about the European control system’s ability to enforce food legislation on imports. SAFE calls for improved controls for import products to protect consumers.