A decree was published on the prefecture website this Tuesday concerning the sale of tomatoes in Mayotte. Faced with the risk of using banned pesticides, sellers are “under reinforced surveillance” for the next five months.
The prefect of Mayotte had already announced that he would hunt down street sellers of fruit and vegetables, particularly in the face of the use of banned pesticides. In a decree posted online this Tuesday, November 19, the prefecture announces that tomato sellers will be subject to a “reinforced surveillance“.
Any trader, reseller, retailer or wholesaler must “be able to immediately prove their origin by a documentary means of traceability, such as purchase invoice, delivery note, purchase contract”, lists the prefectural decree. These documents must make it possible to identify the origin of the batch or the production establishment. A certificate of analysis can also be provided to prove compliance with current legislation. Otherwise, a withdrawal from the market and destruction of these tomatoes is planned.
In the explanatory statement of the decree, the prefecture argues that between 2017 and 2024, samples taken from tomatoes in Mayotte by the DAAF noted in 91% of cases the presence of banned pesticides, such as dimethoate, omethoate and chlorpyrifos-ethyl. These products are particularly found in informal agriculture: all of the samples taken from tomatoes seized by the departmental anti-fraud committee were non-compliant.
To get to the root of the problem, the prefecture simultaneously published an order ordering “the destruction of crops grown illegally and with a high probability of being contaminated” by banned pesticides. These operations are carried out regularly by the police, this was notably two weeks ago in Poroani.
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