Penalty for “technical grain”. The importer will pay PLN 1.5 million
The Trade Quality Inspection of Agricultural and Food Products (IJHARS) imposed a fine of PLN 1.5 million on the importer who introduced technical rapeseed and feed wheat from Ukraine to the Polish market, presenting them as consumer products – informed Chief Inspector Przemysław Rzodkiewicz at a press conference.
The Agricultural and Food Quality Inspectorate imposed a fine on a grain importer who introduced the so-called technical grain and feed wheat as full-fledged food products. According to the information provided, the services questioned 3,882 tons of rapeseed and 7,670 tons of wheat. The importer allegedly changed the purpose of these products and the country of origin, introducing them to the market as consumer products instead of technical and feed products.
Technical grain
Przemysław Rzodkiewicz emphasized that last year IJHARS carried out approximately 82,000 inspections of food products from outside the European Union, of which approximately 1.4 percent revealed irregularities. The punished company comes from the Lublin Voivodeship and sold the imported goods to six contractors as consumer products.
IJHARS provincial inspector Agnieszka Jarosińska informed that contractors from the Pomeranian and Lublin voivodeships had been defrauded, but assured that the questioned products did not pose a threat to human health and life.
Penalties for dishonest entrepreneurs
Inspectors also indicated that in recent months six more penalties have been imposed on dishonest entrepreneurs related to irregularities in trade in agri-food products from Ukraine. These sanctions concerned falsification of the country of origin, changing the intended use of grain and placing poultry meat on the market.
Rzodkiewicz also announced the creation of a team at IJHARS to combat food fraud, which will consist of experts from all over Poland. He pointed out that these frauds include adding inappropriate substances to food, imitation of well-known brands in order to mislead consumers and abuse of product labeling. Deputy Minister of Agriculture Stefan Krajewski assured that all control institutions were on alert to ensure consumers that the products they purchased meet the appropriate quality requirements.
