Cucumbers declared safe

TIRANA, Nov. 6 – Albania’s Ministry of Agriculture says local cucumbers are completely safe to consume after Montenegro temporarily banned Albanian cucumbers on alleged higher levels of chemical substances. The results were confirmed after tests carried out in the Food Safety and Vet lab showed Albanian cucumbers meet EU standards of 0.5 mg/kg for spiroxamine levels. Agriculture Minister Edmond Panariti has called for better coordination among regional test labs to determine a method of how these cases should be treated so that these incidents do not become trade war and cause unnecessary blockages.
Last week, Montenegro banned the import of Albanian cucumbers because of allegedly higher than allowed levels of chemical substances. Reacting to the ban, the Albanian Agriculture Ministry said there was no room for panic and that Montenegrin authorities had confirmed “this is the first limited case for Albania.”