"In a globalized world, the commitment to guarantee healthy food must go beyond national and European borders to extend to all products that enter our markets - declared Andrea Michele Tis o, national president of Confeuro -. The Pesticide Action Network (Pan ) has once again raised the problem of the presence of pesticide residues banned in Europe in foods imported from non-EU countries. The organization also denounces the inaction of the EU Council, despite the promises to act to remedy this paradox".

In a survey carried out in 2020, the PAN found 74 pesticides outlawed by the EU in 5,811 food samples - explains Tiso- . Although the European Commission has committed itself to a zero tolerance policy on residues in imported foods, the EU Council has recently refused to take concrete action in this direction.

The European Union has the strength and authority to impose precise quality standards on the large distributors who operate in our markets by importing food to the Old Continent. The choice not to act is therefore purely political and stands in open contrast to the declared desire to reform European agriculture to promote a green transition. While in Europe we are discussing food labels and surfaces to be used for organic farming, extra-continental productions risk escaping the safety standards that our agri-food sector is rightly required to respect.