Sri Lanka — Herbs and Spices
Sri Lanka received 4 RASFF border-rejection notifications in Herbs and Spices between 2023-Q4 and 2026-Q3. Volume is rising sharply year-on-year. The most-cited issues are Aflatoxin B1, aflatoxin total, and insects dead. The list below gives each of these 17 rejections by date and RASFF reference, with the country that notified it and the hazard found; 14 carry the laboratory result and 9 say what happened to the consignment.
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Key figures
- EU border checks
- Under EU increased official controls. Products in this group from Sri Lanka face identity and physical checks at the EU border at 50% (Aflatoxins, Annex I) and 50% (Pesticide residues, Annex II), depending on the exact product. Source: Regulation (EU) 2019/1793, consolidated 2026-06-30.
- What happened to rejected consignments, last 3 years
- Destroyed: 50%; Re-dispatched or destroyed: 50%. Source: RASFF Window notification records.
Quarterly rejections, last 12 quarters
Show the numbers
| Quarter | Notifications |
|---|---|
| 2023-Q4 | 0 |
| 2024-Q1 | 0 |
| 2024-Q2 | 0 |
| 2024-Q3 | 1 |
| 2024-Q4 | 0 |
| 2025-Q1 | 0 |
| 2025-Q2 | 1 |
| 2025-Q3 | 0 |
| 2025-Q4 | 0 |
| 2026-Q1 | 1 |
| 2026-Q2 | 0 |
| 2026-Q3 | 1 |
Recent rejections
- 2026.7620 Presence of dead insects and mould in dried whole nutmeg from Sir Lanka Notified by Poland. Re-dispatched or destroyed. insects deadmoulds
- 2026.1925 Ochratoxin A in chilipowder from Sri Lanka Notified by Finland. Destroyed. Result 42,0 (limit 20 null). ochratoxin A
- 2025.4585 Aflatoxins in sweet peppers from Sri Lanka Notified by France. Re-dispatched or destroyed. Result 18±6 (limit 5,0 µg/kg - ppb). Aflatoxin B1aflatoxin total
- 2024.6066 Pesticide residues (chlorpyrifos ) in Curry Powder and (tolfenpyrad) Meat Curry Powder Mixture from Sri Lanka Notified by Finland. Destroyed. Result 0,45 (limit 0,01 mg/kg - ppm). chlorpyrifostolfenpyrad
- 2023.5331 peperoncino dallo Sri Lanka Notified by Italy. Result 23.1+-10.2 (limit 5 µg/kg - ppb). Aflatoxin B1aflatoxin total
- 2023.2374 Fipronil in mukunuwenna from Sri Lanka Notified by France. Destroyed. Result 0.14 ± 0.07 (limit 0,005 mg/kg - ppm). fipronil
- 2022.7188 Packaging with wrong information capable of misleading the consumer Notified by Portugal. pesticide residues
- 2022.5895 residues of pesticides in organic Ceylon Fried Curry Powder Notified by Croatia. Result acetamiprid (0.024 ±0.012 mg/kg) and tricyclazole (0.13 ±0.065 mg/kg),. acetamiprid
- 2022.5689 Inappropriate documentation for chilli powder from Sri Lanka Notified by Croatia. Re-dispatched or destroyed.
- 2022.2386 unaproved pesticide residue novaluron in mukunuwenna from Sri Lanka Notified by France. Destroyed. Result 0.76+-0.38 (limit 0.01 mg/kg - ppm). novaluron
- 2022.0260 Alti valori di Aflatossina su peperoncino sminuzzato dallo Sri Lanka//High Aflatoxin values on crushed chili from Sri Lanka Notified by Italy. Result 11.0 +/- 3.2 (limit 5 µg/kg - ppb). Aflatoxin B1
- 2021.2208 aflatoxins (B1 = 22.1 µg/kg - ppb) in roasted chilli powder from Sri Lanka Notified by Italy. Destroyed. Result 22.1 ±9.7 (limit 0.3 µg/kg - ppb). Aflatoxin B1
- 2021.1374 peperoncino in fiocchi da Sri Lanka Notified by Italy. Destroyed. Result aflatossina B1= 20.6 (+-9.1); aflatossine totali = 22.3 (+-9.1) (limit aflatossina B1=5; … Aflatoxins B1
- 2020.4770 Aflatoxins in peppers form Sri Lanka Notified by France. Result 11,7 +-3,6 (limit 5 µg/kg - ppb). Aflatoxin B1
- 2020.4273 Dried Whole Chillies rejected due to excess Aflatoxin B1. Notified by United Kingdom. Result 10.7 ± 4.3 (limit 5 µg/kg - ppb). Aflatoxin B1
- 2020.4118 Red Chilli Powder Hot from Sri Lanka rejected due to excess Aflatoxins Notified by United Kingdom. Result 16.4 ± 6.5 (limit 5 µg/kg - ppb). Aflatoxin B1
- 2020.1066 Aflatoxin in Capsicum Notified by Netherlands. Result 20 (limit 5 µg/kg - ppb). Aflatoxin B1
Found on the EU market: alerts and information notifications
Besides border rejections, 15 notifications since 2020 concerned herbs and spices from Sri Lanka found after entering the EU — 8 alerts, 7 information notifications. They are not part of the rejection figures or rates above, which measure border controls.
How they were found: official control on the market 40%, company's own check 27%, at the EU border 27%, monitoring or surveillance sample 7%. 4 led to a recall from consumers.
Show the numbers
| Year | Total | Alerts | Information notifications |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 2021 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| 2022 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2023 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 2025 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 2026 to date | 3 | 2 | 1 |
- 2026.7598 info: attentionSuspected mould contamination in whole dried nutmeg from Sir Lanka /Misstänkt mögelförorening i hel torkad muskotnöt. Notified by Sweden. Company's own check, reached the market.
- 2026.7330 alertBaP and PAK's in clove from Sri Lanka Notified by Netherlands. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result 24 (limit 10 µg/kg - ppb). benzo(a)pyrenepolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons sum of
- 2026.4547 alertaflatoxins and ochratoxin A in organic ground nutmeg from Sri Lanka Notified by Switzerland. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result 420 (limit 15 µg/kg - ppb). Aflatoxin B1ochratoxin A
- 2025.3703 info: attentionProbably unauthorised novel food ingredient senna leaves in tea from Sri Lanka Notified by Germany. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result Sennosid A and Sennosid B detected. novel food ingredient
- 2025.0095 alertAnthraquinone in organic black pepper from Sri Lanka Notified by France. Official control on the market, reached the market, re-dispatched. Result 0,097 +/- 0,048 (limit 0,02 mg/kg - ppm). anthraquinone
- 2024.5043 alertToo high pesticide level in Curry Powder (chlorpyrifos) Notified by Denmark. Monitoring or surveillance sample, reached the market. Result 0,038 (limit 0,018 mg/kg - ppm). chlorpyrifos
- 2024.2305 alertUnlabelled sulphites in cinnamon sticks from Sri Lanka destined for France Notified by Belgium. At the EU border, reached the market, treated, sorted or diverted. Result 106,5 (limit 10 mg/kg - ppm). sulphite
- 2022.0345 info: attentionAflatoxins and ochratoxin A in organic mace powder from Sri Lanka Notified by Germany. Company's own check, reached the market. Result 18,4 (limit 10 µg/kg - ppb). Aflatoxin B1aflatoxin totalochratoxin A
- 2021.6144 info: attentionEthylene Oxide in organic cinnamon from Sri Lanka Notified by Norway. Company's own check, reached the market. Result 0,035. ethylene oxide
- 2021.5311 alertAflatoxins in ground nutmeg Notified by Germany. Official control on the market, reached the market. aflatoxin total
Data and downloads
Download all 32 entries (CSV) — every notification behind this page, border rejections and those found on the market, with how each was found and what was done.
The file holds entries up to 2026-08-28. To get new ones for Sri Lanka by email, watch Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka country report since 2020 — all notification types, not just border rejections →