{"id":686793,"date":"2026-01-10T13:24:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T13:24:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/686793\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T13:24:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T13:24:21","slug":"turkiye-ranks-2nd-in-eu-pesticide-alerts-nearly-half-of-food-shipments-rejected-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/686793\/","title":{"rendered":"T\u00fcrkiye ranks 2nd in EU pesticide alerts, nearly half of food shipments rejected: Report"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>T\u00fcrkiye was the second most frequently flagged country in the European Union\u2019s food safety alert system in 2025 due to pesticide residues, according to data from the European Commission\u2019s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF).<\/p>\n<p>The country was cited in 105 notifications throughout the year, trailing only India with 124 alerts, Greenpeace T\u00fcrkiye reported, adding that 51 of T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s notifications resulted in <a href=\"https:\/\/food.ec.europa.eu\/food-safety\/rasff_en\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">shipments being rejected at EU borders.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Some 48.5% of the alerts involving Turkish products resulted in border rejections. In total, India, T\u00fcrkiye, Egypt (88 alerts), China (48), and Brazil (34) made up the top five countries with the most pesticide-related alerts in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>More to Read<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.turkiyetoday.com\/nation\/turkiyes-new-agricultural-strategy-whats-changing-and-why-it-matters-3204703\" title=\"T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s new agricultural strategy: What\u2019s changing and why it matters\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/turkiyes-new-agricultural-strategy-whats-changing-and-why-it-matters-3204703.jpg\" class=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s new agricultural strategy: What\u2019s changing and why it matters\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Pesticide concerns spotlight T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s farming practices<\/p>\n<p>The top rejected items included peppers (27 cases), tomatoes (nine), and pomegranates (five), followed by lemons, grape leaves, pears, grapefruits, mandarins, and peaches.<\/p>\n<p>Among the 27 notifications concerning peppers, eight were linked to the presence of formetanate, a highly toxic substance banned in T\u00fcrkiye. Greenpeace T\u00fcrkiye highlighted the recurrence of peppers in both the 2024 and 2025 data, suggesting systemic issues in domestic pepper production.<\/p>\n<p>Berkan Ozyer, director of Greenpeace T\u00fcrkiye, stated that the country being the second-most notified for two consecutive years is &#8220;concerning.&#8221; He emphasized the importance of transparency and called for the publication of pesticide analysis results.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The fact that peppers again top the list of returned items this year points to a persistent problem in the production process,&#8221; Ozyer said, referencing the 2024 figures as a precedent.<\/p>\n<p>The figures have added renewed urgency to the long-running pesticide debate in Turkish agriculture, where concerns over food safety, export reliability, and regulatory transparency remain at the forefront of public scrutiny.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"newspicture\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1280\/853;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/turkiye-ranks-2nd-in-eu-pesticide-alerts-nearly-half-of-food-shipments-rejected-repor-3212701_202601.jpeg\" alt=\"Rows of pepper plants grow inside a greenhouse in Antalya, T\u00fcrkiye. (Adobe Stock Photo)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"853\" data-width=\"1280\" data-height=\"853\"\/><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.turkiyetoday.com\/s\/i\/i-fotobuyut.svg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\nRows of pepper plants grow inside a greenhouse in Antalya, T\u00fcrkiye. (Adobe Stock Photo)\n<\/p>\n<p>Turkish officials cite robust testing in response to pesticide concerns<\/p>\n<p>While Greenpeace T\u00fcrkiye <a href=\"https:\/\/www.turkiyetoday.com\/lifestyle\/cancer-linked-pesticides-found-in-1-in-3-of-istanbuls-everyday-produce-report-3201023?s=1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">has consistently drawn attention<\/a> to rising EU pesticide alerts and urged greater transparency, the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry has maintained that the issue is limited in scope and often misunderstood.<\/p>\n<p>Ersin Dilber, general director of food and control at the ministry, previously addressed the perception that most rejected Turkish food exports are due to pesticide residues. &#8220;There\u2019s a perception that our products are mostly turned away because of pesticide residues, but only 1.6% to 2% of all shipped goods are returned,&#8221; he said during a public event in October.<\/p>\n<p>Dilber added that returns may also result from toxins, other contaminants, or commercial disagreements in which buyers decline to receive the goods.<\/p>\n<p>He also emphasized T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s monitoring capacity, noting that the country conducts around 21.2 million food tests and collects 222,000 samples annually, exceeding the 200,000 pesticide analyses reported across 29 European countries in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>In a separate development, Greenpeace T\u00fcrkiye won a lawsuit in October requiring the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry to disclose pesticide test results from 2022 to 2024.<\/p>\n<p>The court ordered the ministry to disclose details on tested products, sample counts, violations, and corrective actions, stating they are not exempt under T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s Freedom of Information law.<\/p>\n<p>Greenpeace has since <a href=\"https:\/\/imza.greenpeace.org\/zehir-etme?gad_campaignid=22477532835\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">renewed its call for immediate publication,<\/a> even launching a petition campaign.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.turkiyetoday.com\/s\/i\/i-share.svg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>January 10, 2026 01:39 PM GMT+03:00<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"T\u00fcrkiye was the second most frequently flagged country in the European Union\u2019s food safety alert system in 2025&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":686794,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[2000,299,5187],"class_list":{"0":"post-686793","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-european"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115871027485399908","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=686793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/686794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=686793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=686793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=686793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}