Border Rejections Reported in the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) in 2008–2023: Identification of Hazards and Overview of Their Potential Health Implications

Marcin Pigłowski (), Birutė Mockevičienė and Maria Śmiechowska
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Marcin Pigłowski: Department of Quality Management, Faculty of Management and Quality Science, Gdynia Maritime University, Morska 81-87, 81-225 Gdynia, Poland
Birutė Mockevičienė: Institute of Management and Political Science, Faculty of Public Governance and Business, Mykolas Romeris University, Ateities 20, 08303 Vilnius, Lithuania
Maria Śmiechowska: Department of Quality Management, Faculty of Management and Quality Science, Gdynia Maritime University, Morska 81-87, 81-225 Gdynia, Poland

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 7, 1-28

Abstract: An important element of sustainability is food security, related to ensuring access to suitable food. Despite having an intensive agricultural economy and a developed food industry, European Union (EU) countries import some products. Within the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), so-called border rejections are reported, which accounted for 38.7% of all notifications submitted in 2008–2023. The purpose of this study was to analyse border rejections reported in the RASFF in 2008–2023, considering hazards, hazard categories, product categories, notifying country, and country of origin. The data were pre-processed in Microsoft Excel and then subjected to two-way joining cluster analysis in Statistica 13.3. Taking into account the quantity of imports and the hazards, the greatest attention should be paid to fruits and vegetables from Turkey (presence of ochratoxin A, pesticides, and sulphites), nuts from Turkey (aflatoxins), poultry and spices from Brazil ( Salmonella spp.), fish from China and Morocco (poor temperature control), and feed and fruits and vegetables from Ukraine (moulds). Through border rejections, the common European market is protected from hazards in food from outside the EU, which contributes to sustainability. However, ensuring safety in this regard requires close cooperation between border posts of all member countries.

Keywords: food safety; RASFF; border rejections; import; European Union (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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