A shipment of 19.3 tons of apples, returned from Bulgaria to North Macedonia on November 2, has been sent for destruction after local tests confirmed that pesticide residues exceeded the maximum permitted limit. Within a few days, Bulgarian authorities stopped more than 40 tons of apples exported from North Macedonia over problems involving pesticide residues.
According to the State Agriculture Inspectorate, the test results led Bulgaria to return the shipment, which was held at the Novo Selo border crossing. There, a North Macedonian phytosanitary inspector took new samples, which were analyzed at the State Phytosanitary Laboratory in Skopje.
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Local laboratory tests confirmed that pesticide residues exceeded the permitted limit. The inspectorate said the apples were deemed unsafe for consumption and the entire 19.3-ton shipment was sent for destruction to prevent the unsafe products from reaching the market.
This was the second shipment returned from Bulgaria. The first, weighing 21 tons, was stopped on October 29, but tests conducted in North Macedonia did not show that pesticide levels exceeded the limit. By contrast, local tests of the 19.3 tons returned on November 2 confirmed levels above the permitted limit.
Other agricultural products from North Macedonia have also faced obstacles in foreign markets this year, with shipments stopped or returned. In August, Bulgarian authorities returned 11.6 tons of peppers because pesticide residues exceeded the permitted limit. In September, they stopped another shipment of peppers weighing 11.8 tons.
September also saw Montenegro return 14 tons of black grapes. Meanwhile, authorities in Croatia reported problems with shipments of peppers and plums weighing nearly 50 tons in total. Some of these products were destroyed. Later, in late October and early November, problems with pesticide residues led Bulgaria to stop two apple shipments weighing 21 and 19.3 tons, respectively.
