Skopje, 16 October 2025 (MIA) – The peppers exported to Croatia that were found to contain high levels of the pesticide methomyl through the European food safety system have not made it back from Croatia and maybe they were not even Macedonian, according to Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy Cvetan Tripunovski.

In response to a reporter's question about the red horn peppers the EU's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed had announced were Macedonian, Tripunovski denied that Croatia had sent back the peppers.

In the RASFF notification titled "Methomyl in peppers from Republic of North Macedonia," Croatia flagged the produce for attention after official market control found the harmful pesticide at a level of 0.049 milligrams per kilogram. This was five times the allowed level of 0.01 milligrams of methomyl per kilogram and Croatia ordered a withdrawal of the peppers from the EU market.

Talking to the press after an event marking World Food Day, the Macedonian agriculture minister claimed state inspectors conducted regular food safety checks all year long. According to him, local produce marketed to consumers for direct purchase, sold to food processing facilities for inclusion in their own products, and exported onto the international market is of high quality.

"The shipment of peppers has not been sent back from Croatia to Macedonia. It had been exported from our country on Sept. 9," Tripunovski said.

"The Croatian Food Agency released the information on Sept. 23, which is 20 days later," he said. "This leaves room for asking whether this pepper is Macedonian. This I will leave to the agencies to determine."

He added that the Food and Veterinary Agency was performing pesticide checks during the entire year as the government made regular procurements of agricultural products.

Citing official figures from the State Statistical Office, Tripunovski said produce exports were up. He also said the agriculture ministry was supporting young farmers through grants and subsidies.

Last week, after receiving the RASFF notification of the Croatian announcement of methomyl in Macedonian peppers, the State Agriculture Inspectorate said it was conducting inspections of the exporting company as well as of local wholesalers and farmers.

According to the inspectorate, the exporter did not produce the red horn peppers but procured the 15,000 kilogram shipment from other legal entities who had purchased the peppers from individual pepper growers.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, methomyl exposure via mouth, skin or inhalation can overstimulate the nervous system resulting in nausea, dizziness, confusion and at very high exposures (such as accidents or major spills), respiratory paralysis and death. To minimize health impacts, methomyl products used in agricultural settings have been classified as restricted use pesticides, which can only be used by or under the direct supervision of specially trained and certified persons. mr/