Port Health are introducing emergency controls with regard to pesticide residue in foods.

These will come into force on 8th December 2019, although there is a transitional period of three months which will cover goods which have left the country of origin and are already in transit on 8th December.

All shipments containing the affected goods will need CEDs and must be submitted through a DPE.

All shipments must have an original health certificate along with the results of sampling and analysis, noting that these certificates are only valid for four months from the date of issue and must be signed by an authorised representative from the country of origin.

If the goods are moving from a country other than the country where it originated, then the health certificate must be signed by an authorised representative from the country the goods are moving from.

The shipment including all individual packages therein, should also show a code that matches the one shown on the health certificate.

Products covered by these new controls are dragon fruit (fresh or chilled) from Vietnam, curry leaves (fresh, dried or frozen) from India and vine leaves from Turkey.

It should also be noted that any products made up of more than 20% of ay of these items will also be subject to the new controls.