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Europe to tighten import controls for pesticides

The European Commission will tighten controls on food and feed imports and may extend France's ban on products containing prohibited pesticides.

Earlier this month, the French ministry of Agriculture and Food issued an interministerial decree to suspend the importation of food items produced with EU-prohibited herbicides and fungicides. The ban halts the import and sale of a range of fruits, vegetables, and grains made using five compounds – carbendazim, benomyl, glufosinate, thiophanate-methyl, and mancozeb – for products like oranges, lemons, mangos, avocados, potatoes, oats, and wheat.

Operators involved in the import, processing and marketing of imported products must now ensure there are no residues of these prohibited substances. French state services will conduct checks and take samples to ensure proper implementation of the national decree.

French decree: ‘Fairness for farmers and consumers cannot wait’

France also presented its decree to the European Commission in the hope the measures could be extended to EU policy level.

“The products we are banning because of the substances they are treated with must not be allowed to return,” said Annie Genevard, French minister for agriculture, food sovereignty, and forestry.

“This is a matter of common sense, one we have been advocating to the European Commission for several months. Fairness and justice for our farmers and our consumers cannot wait. This decree therefore puts an end to an incomprehensible double standard and cleans up the shelves.”

The decree was presented to the Commission and Member States on 20 January 2026, at the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed, following calls from Genevard late last year to lower maximum residue limits for several food products made using these pesticides.

One week later, on 26 January 2026, the European Commission established a new Task Force to strengthen import controls on food safety. The Task Force will be specifically focused on food and feed safety, pesticide residues, and coordinated EU monitoring actions on specific imported products.

According to the Commission, the goal is to further harmonise import controls across the EU; develop recommendations for joint actions between the Commission and member states; and identify where additional administrative or regulatory measures are needed to strengthen controls.

Potential for extended EU policy?

Speaking to Ingredients Network, EU regulatory expert Luca Bucchini, owner and managing director of Hylobates Consulting, said the French decree may be used to define a wider EU policy.

“Rather than similar initiatives by other member states, the Commission may extend the same policy at EU level,” Bucchinin said. “The Commission had already considered action and may align with France given the toxicity of the substances. France has put pressure on the process.”

Discussing the potential impact this ban will have on food trade into France, the expert said it will mainly impact tropical fruits and off-season citrus fruits; prices on some products could also change for consumers.

For suppliers working globally or within Europe, the decree creates differentiating standards, he said, which is “always a problem”.

French companies will now have to “scramble to find suitable suppliers”, he added.

Monitoring imports and trade

In terms of upholding the ban, Bucchini said that whilst France has “strong capabilities at imports”, it will be impossible to screen every product entering the country. There is also the issue of international products arriving via other member states whereupon EU checks will be conducted on arrival into that country but not re-checked on arrival into France, he explained. In this case, random controls and compliant food business operators will be key to ensuring the ban is upheld.

“This is a difficult time to keep together the traditional rule-making process of the EU – slow and deliberative – with the pressures of politics and international trade,” Bucchini said. “While France has, in many cases, forced the EU's hand, more similar initiatives are likely to follow, potentially making the EU's position more difficult or fragmenting food law.”

Crucially, this is all happening within the backdrop of the ongoing EU-Mercosur trade deal which has been stalled and referred to the EU Court of Justice – a deal that would see the EU and four Mercosur countries Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay strengthen bilateral trade and investment.