Fresh vegetable traceability system comes into effect in August

A new traceability system to help monitor and control pesticide residues in the production chain of fresh vegetables intended for human consumption was evaluated last Friday (13) at Ceagesp (Companhia de Entrepostos e Armazéns Gerais de São Paulo), company linked to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA).

The standard establishes the obligation that all fruits and vegetables must provide standardized information capable of identifying the producer or person responsible on the product itself or on the wrappers, boxes, bags and other packaging. The producer must inform the full address, name, variety or cultivar, quantity, batch, production date, supplier and identification (CPF, CNPJ or State Registration).

Identification can be carried out using labels printed with alphanumeric characters, barcode, QR Code, or any other system that allows fresh vegetable products to be identified in a unique and unambiguous way.

The system was established on February 8, 2018, following publication in the Official Gazette of the Union of Joint Normative Instruction No. 2 from MAPA and Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency of the Ministry of Health). The standard will be applied throughout the national territory. The procedures will be applied to different food groups within 180, 360 and 720 days, from the date of publication of the IN.

In the first phase of implementation, which will begin on August 8th, traceability must be applied to the group of citrus, apples, grapes, potatoes, lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes and cucumbers.

The inspection activities of the new system are complementary between the Ministry of Agriculture and Health Surveillance. From the producer to the warehouse, the responsibility will be the Ministry of Agriculture through the PNCRC – Vegetal (National Program for the Control of Residues and Contaminants in Products of Vegetable Origin).

From the warehouse to the consumer, inspection will be carried out by the State and Municipal Health Surveillance Services within the scope of PARA (Agrochemical Residue Analysis Program in Food).

“At Ceagesp it is possible to have a very clear idea of ​​the size of the fruit and vegetable agribusiness in Brazil”, explains Fátima Parizzi, coordinator of Plant Quality at the Ministry of Agriculture. “How this agribusiness is diversified and dispersed, based on what leaves Ceagesp throughout Brazil. Huge batches of plant products are handled, classified and stratified into micro-lots. Spraying is the biggest difficulty we will face in implementing the system. ”

According to Parizzi, three situations are the most common when investigating the causes and origins of irregularities with pesticides and contaminants in plant products: 1) foods with residues above the permitted limit; 2) use of products prohibited in the country; 3) pesticides permitted for a specific crop being used in another similar crop.

The technicians gathered on Friday evaluated the inspection model, with a description of the procedures to be adopted in inspections. At Ceagesp alone, the largest fruit and vegetable marketing and distribution center in Latin America, the unloaded food amounts to 3 invoices. With distribution and sales to other warehouses and distribution points, this number reaches 21 thousand documents.

Technicians from the Ministry of Agriculture, State and Municipal Health Surveillance Services and Ceagesp participated in the meeting.