In the past two months, imported berries at Costco have failed border inspections three times for excessive pesticide residues.

The Food and Drug Administration (abbreviated as the FDA) announced yesterday (14) 25 items of goods that failed border inspection, among which three batches of products including Driscoll and Naturipe berries imported by Costco in the past two months have consecutively been found to have excessive pesticide residues and were rejected for return shipment or destroyed. Costco responded that because domestic and foreign cultivation patterns and pesticide regulations differ, this leads to situations where products are compliant abroad but non-compliant in Taiwan, China, but everything will be carried out in accordance with current Taiwan, China standards.

In May and June of this year, the FDA inspected berry products imported by Costco at the border and found that Driscoll blackberries were detected with the pesticide dinotefuran at 0.09ppm, fresh strawberries were detected with the pesticide myclobutanil at 0.9ppm, and Naturipe fresh blueberries were detected with the pesticide Fenhexamid at 0.08ppm. According to the standards announced by the FDA before the end of June, the detection limit standard for myclobutanil used on strawberries is 0.5ppm, dinotefuran must not be detected in blackberries, and Fenhexamid must not be detected in blueberries.

Costco marketing deputy manager Wang Youmei stated that the berry products sold by Costco are all imported from the United States, and because the United States has large cultivation areas, pesticides can be sprayed by aircraft, which may lead to scattered contamination or residues in the soil; however, before the company imports related products to Taiwan, China, it first requires manufacturers to issue a passing inspection report before import. When related products arrive at Taiwan, China customs, the FDA will again carry out border inspection in accordance with Taiwan, China pesticide residue standards, and currently the FDA has raised the inspection frequency for Costco's imported berry products to batch-by-batch inspection.

Regarding Costco's feedback that the same agricultural products have different pesticide residue standards domestically and abroad, Wang Deyuan of the FDA Northern Regional Management Center stated that for imported agricultural products, because their crop growing environment, pest and disease control, and pesticide application methods differ from domestic conditions, manufacturers with such needs may apply to the FDA for the addition or revision of permissible residue limits for imported agricultural products, providing scientific information such as toxicity data of the relevant pesticides, crop residue dissipation trial data, and approved registration and use methods abroad. The FDA will refer to international standards, assess the cumulative risk of the total intake of various crops by the people, and consult with the Council of Agriculture of the Executive Yuan, and after review and approval by expert committees, set the permissible limit standards to ensure the food safety of the people.