Pre-shipment inspection services – creating a win-win for buyers and suppliers

Challenges overcome

Successful monitoring of aflatoxins

High aflatoxin contents in rice led to numerous rapid alerts in 2010. Due to the highly inhomogenous distribution of aflatoxin contamination in the lots, highly representative sampling and special sample preparation methods are crucial to avoid shipments of lots with high aflatoxin contents (Nader et al., 2014).

In addition to these procedures, Eurofins Dr Specht Express Testing and Inspection and SCBS introduced rapid aflatoxin testing systems using lateral flow devices and Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISA) in Pakistan and provided trainings to suppliers, with first seminars held for members of the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan in 2010 in Karachi and 2011 in Lahore, followed by further courses for the personnel in various rice mills.

Successful monitoring of pesticides

The next challenge for the Pakistani basmati rice producers was the frequent finding of pesticide residues above the Maximum Residue Levels (MRL) defined by the EU.

As a solution, Eurofins Dr. Specht Express Testing and Inspection developed a new testing system for Basmati rice from India and Pakistan that focuses on the pesticide spectrum found in rice from these countries with a turn-around-time of 24 hours. In addition to further tests for critical parameters like ochratoxin A, Basmati authenticity by DNA fingerprinting (Nader et al., 2019), inorganic arsenic, genetically modified organisms (GMO), and mineral oils MOSH/MOAH and in combination with representative sampling, sample preparation and sample shipment logistics this control system significantly reduces the risks for both buyers and suppliers.

Eurofins Dr. Specht Express Testing & Inspection GmbH (Dr Werner Nader (mid right) and Amar Guberinic (mid left)) with rice farmers during the seminar "Awareness about Proper Use of Certified Seeds and Fertilizers" in Phalia, Punjab on 9 May 2023, organised by the Pakistan Basmati Heritage Foundation

Seminars

Food quality, safety and authenticity risks must be minimised during the entire supply chain, starting at the farm level. In May 2023, Eurofins and SCBS were invited by the Pakistan Basmati Heritage Foundation to talk to farmers about EU requirements for Basmati food safety and authenticity at seminars in the cities Narowal and Phalia located in two major Basmati rice growing areas of the Punjab.

The information provided at these seminars given by Eurofins and SCBS was summarised in the article "Export of Pakistan Basmati Rice to the EU and the UK – A success story with new challenges ahead!" by Dr. Werner Nader (Senior Consultant, Eurofins Dr. Specht Express Testing and Inspection) and Eng. Nadeem Akbar Khan (CEO of SCBS), which is distributed by the Foundation to the stakeholders in Pakistan.

Expansion of success to other countries and products

Eurofins Dr. Specht Express Testing and Inspection used this concept and the experiences gained in Pakistan as a blueprint to establish similar control mechanisms in further source countries around the globe and in addition to rice, for further products like tea, herbs, spices, nuts, fresh and dried fruits, quinoa, chia and numerous other commodities and food ingredients like lecithin.