Ohrid, 23 January 2025 (MIA) — Macedonian agricultural inspectors did not detect any prohibited chemicals in the cabbage grown by the producer whose cabbage had recently been refused entry at the Croatian border for allegedly containing pesticides banned in the EU, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy Cvetan Tripunovski said Thursday in response to a reporter's question on the matter.

"We immediately intervened on the shipment returned from Croatia, checking who the producer was and who the exporter was," Tripunovski said.

He said the State Agriculture Inspectorate took samples from the exported horticultural crop to test the cabbage for any banned pesticides, but the test results were negative.

The agriculture minister said he did not know whether a mistake had been made at the Croatian border, firmly reiterating that the cabbage grower had not used any banned pesticides.

He also said the authorities were intensifying the control of the illegal trade in prohibited pesticides.

"We are working on expanding the list of permitted products," he added, "so farmers can have access to more products that are maybe cheaper and produce better results." mr/