The percentage of food compliance in the Food Traceability and Monitoring Program (Rama), of the Brazilian Association of Supermarkets (Abras), rose to 73% in the first half of 2016. The improvement was seven percentage points compared to the same period of the previous year, when it was 66%.
This means that fewer foods presented “nonconformities”, such as levels above the Maximum Residue Limit (MRL), Unauthorized ingredients (NA), or even a combination of the two (MRL+NA), in addition to Prohibited ingredients. Verification is done using tracking technology developed by the company PariPassu.
According to Giampaolo Buso, the company's commercial director, only 3% of the results are above the MRL. “In this scenario, the active ingredient is correct for the crop, but there was some failure to respect the lack or concentration of the active ingredient”, he explains.
On the other hand, 21% in the samples presented active ingredients that were not authorized for a particular culture. “It is important to highlight that a large part of these crops, in which we verified the use of unauthorized active ingredients, are already benefiting from the expansion of phytosanitary support by the government”, highlights Buso.
In cases where the program identifies unauthorized ingredients (NA) and ingredients above the limit (MRL), the Rama Correction Policy is applied. The procedure from then on has an action plan supported by the public authorities, through bodies such as Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) and Mapa (Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply).
This year, Rama showed growth of 23.1% in the volume of fruits and vegetables (FLV) tracked in the first six months of the year compared to 2015. The program monitors and tracks a monthly average of 80 thousand tons of fruit in Brazil, vegetables since its launch, in 2011.
“The RAMA Program reaches an average of 1 million tons tracked per year, which for us at ABRAS is a source of great pride, especially for the services we provide to consumers, supporting the reduction of pesticide consumption in the country. Our objective is disseminate this program even further so that more retail companies participate and continually improve the quality of the products offered”, says Marcio Milan, superintendent of Abras.
Source: Agrolink
