Latvia has prohibited the entry of a 57.6-kilogram shipment of green tea declared as originating from Armenia into the European Union after laboratory tests detected pesticide residues that violated EU food safety requirements.
According to Latvia's Food and Veterinary Service (PVD), the shipment was stopped during border inspections after laboratory analysis identified residues of tolfenpyrad, a pesticide not approved for use in the European Union.
The tests also revealed that concentrations of two other pesticides, lambda-cyhalothrin and thiamethoxam, exceeded the maximum permitted residue levels.
The affected shipment, identified as batch No. 8810, was subsequently denied entry into the EU market.
Latvian authorities said the consignment would either be destroyed or returned to a country outside the European Union.
The PVD confirmed that information about the violations had been submitted to the EU's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), which enables member states to exchange information about potentially unsafe food products.
The findings were announced by the Latvian regulator on October 14 and subsequently reported by Armenian media, including News Armenia.
However, Armenia's Food Safety Inspection Body has reportedly disputed the shipment's origin. According to Armenian media outlet Aurora News, an official from the agency's border control division stated on October 19 that the affected batch of tea did not originate from Armenia.
The discrepancy between the Latvian and Armenian accounts has not yet been resolved.