Bulgarian Food Safety Agency Did Not Allow over 370 Tonnes of Food Imports in One Month

More than 370 tonnes of food products from third countries were stopped at Bulgaria’s borders between 5 March and 5 April, the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (Bulgarian Food Safety Agency) has said.

A total of 51 consignments were rejected following official veterinary and phytosanitary inspections carried out by agency inspectors, most of them at the Kapitan Andreevo border crossing.

The largest share of the rejected goods consisted of tomatoes, totalling over 110 tonnes. Authorities also blocked more than 58 tonnes of mandarins and over 52 tonnes of sweet peppers. Elevated levels of pesticide residues were detected in some shipments of pomegranates, rice and vine leaves.

Dried figs and hazelnuts were also stopped due to the presence of various toxins, the agency added.

Other consignments were rejected due to incomplete documentation or insufficient identification data, including shipments of sunflower seeds for sowing, roses with soil, vegetables and citrus fruits, saplings and wooden packaging materials. Some animal-origin products, such as collagen, eggs and beef bone extract, were also denied entry for similar reasons.

A total of 38 notifications were issued in the EU Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) regarding the rejected consignments.