RASFF Border Rejections by Notifying Country, 2023 — Ranked by EU Member State
In 2023, EU and EEA authorities issued 1,550 RASFF border-rejection notifications — formal refusals of food and feed consignments at the EU's external border, a core mechanism protecting the single market. Netherlands filed the most (180, 11.6%), ahead of Greece (165) and Italy (143). The total was up 2.4% on 2022 (1,513).
Other years: 2023 · 2024 · 2025 · all years
Notifying member states, 2023
| # | Notifying member state | Rejections | % of total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Netherlands | 180 | 11.6% |
| 2 | Greece | 165 | 10.6% |
| 3 | Italy | 143 | 9.2% |
| 4 | France | 140 | 9.0% |
| 5 | Bulgaria | 139 | 9.0% |
| 6 | Spain | 134 | 8.6% |
| 7 | Poland | 111 | 7.2% |
| 8 | Germany | 107 | 6.9% |
| 9 | Portugal | 72 | 4.6% |
| 10 | Slovenia | 59 | 3.8% |
| 11 | Belgium | 57 | 3.7% |
| 12 | Croatia | 40 | 2.6% |
| 13 | Latvia | 39 | 2.5% |
| 14 | Cyprus | 34 | 2.2% |
| 15 | Ireland | 32 | 2.1% |
| 16 | Finland | 28 | 1.8% |
| 17 | Sweden | 18 | 1.2% |
| 18 | European Commission | 12 | 0.8% |
| 19 | Hungary | 8 | 0.5% |
| 20 | Malta | 8 | 0.5% |
| 21 | Switzerland | 8 | 0.5% |
| 22 | Romania | 7 | 0.5% |
| 23 | Denmark | 3 | 0.2% |
| 24 | Norway | 2 | 0.1% |
| 25 | Czechia | 1 | 0.1% |
| 26 | Estonia | 1 | 0.1% |
| 27 | Luxembourg | 1 | 0.1% |
| 28 | Slovakia | 1 | 0.1% |
| Total | 1,550 | 100.0% |
Top origin countries, 2023
Where the rejected consignments came from — distinct from the notifying member state above.
| # | Origin country | Rejections |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | India | 220 |
| 2 | Turkey | 215 |
| 3 | China | 128 |
| 4 | United States | 103 |
| 5 | Ukraine | 79 |
| 6 | Nigeria | 74 |
| 7 | Egypt | 73 |
| 8 | Pakistan | 56 |
| 9 | Brazil | 53 |
| 10 | Sudan | 44 |
About RASFF border rejections
What is a RASFF border rejection?
A RASFF border rejection is a notification filed through the EU's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed recording that a consignment of food or feed was refused entry at the EU's external border after failing an official control. It is one RASFF notification type, alongside alerts and information notifications.
What is the difference between the notifying country and the country of origin?
The notifying country is the EU or EEA member state whose authority detected the problem and filed the rejection — for example France or the Netherlands. The country of origin is where the rejected product was produced or shipped from. These pages rank member states by the number of rejections they issued.
Do border rejections protect the single market?
Yes. By stopping non-compliant consignments at the external frontier, border rejections keep unsafe or mislabelled food and feed out of the EU single market, and the shared RASFF record lets every member state act on the same information.