The EU and US borders reject the same exporters for different things

The EU and the US reject food from the same countries for different reasons. Since 2020, 56% of EU border rejections cite pesticide residues or mycotoxins. At the US border the most common hazard group is filth and insanitary conditions, cited on 35% of US hazard refusals. The EU cites anything like it on 34 of 9,699 border rejections. Mycotoxins run the other way: 2,383 EU border rejections against 95 US refusals.

This is for researchers, journalists, exporters and consultants who compare the two markets. It sets EU border rejections (RASFF) next to US import refusals (FDA) for the same origins over the same period, 1 January 2020 to 10 September 2026.

Two different lists of problem origins

Only three origins are in the top ten on both sides: India, China and Turkey. The rest of each list barely overlaps.

Turkey and Mexico are mirror images. Turkey is the EU's most-rejected origin and 11th on US hazard refusals. Mexico is first on US refusals and 45th in the EU. Much of this is trade: a country is rejected most where it ships most. Neither dataset publishes how many consignments were inspected, so these counts cannot show which border is stricter, and this piece does not claim that.

The closest like-for-like pair is EU border rejections against US hazard refusals. 27% of US refusals are paperwork: labels, registration, unapproved drug claims. The EU side is not free of paperwork either. 23% of EU border rejections name no hazard, and 583 (6%) describe a missing or improper health certificate, analytical report or document. The rest of that 23% include cold-chain breaks and unauthorised ingredients or additives.

Same exporter, different hazard

Three differences hold up:

• Mycotoxins are an EU finding. Turkey has 840 EU rejections for mycotoxins, mostly aflatoxins (559) and ochratoxin A (316), and 8 in the US. Pakistan: 123 against 1. Part of the explanation is visible on the EU side: under Regulation (EU) 2019/1793, Turkish pistachios face identity and physical checks on 50% of consignments for aflatoxins. A mandated lab check finds what it tests for.
• Filth is a US finding. Filth and insanitary conditions (visible filth, decomposition, and food prepared under insanitary conditions) is the top hazard group for India (1,476 refusals), China (917) and Vietnam (311). The US legal test covers food that "consists in whole or in part of any filthy, putrid, or decomposed substance", and FDA may refuse entry if a violation "appears from the examination of such samples or otherwise". The EU data has no comparable category in regular use.
• Pesticide residues are the one hazard both sides cite heavily. India has 559 EU and 632 US pesticide cases, Pakistan 143 and 186. For these two origins, a residue problem shows up at both borders.

China shows a fourth difference. Its largest EU hazard category after pesticides is migration from food contact materials (148 rejections: kitchenware, not food). On the US side, its second-largest group is contaminants (748).

What this means if you…

• …export to both markets: a clean record at one border says little about the other. A Turkish nut or dried-fruit exporter's EU risk is aflatoxin and residues; in the US, 39% of Turkey's refusals are paperwork. An Indian exporter faces pesticide findings at both borders, and filth findings in the US on top.
• …write about food safety: do not rank the EU against the US on these counts. They measure different inspection regimes, vocabularies and trade flows. Compare hazards within one origin, as above, not totals.
• …advise clients on market entry: check the hazard mix on each side's origin page before choosing a testing plan. The EU pesticide residues page and the US filth page list the origins and products behind each count.

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Method. EU: 9,699 RASFF border rejection notifications validated 1 January 2020 to 10 September 2026. US: 25,892 FDA import refusals over the same dates, from FDA's Data Dashboard. A US refusal counts as a hazard if any charge falls in a hazard group; otherwise it is paperwork. EU hazards are RASFF's own hazard categories; "filth-like" means foreign bodies, parasitic infestation or organoleptic aspects. A record can cite several hazards, so columns do not add up. A record naming two origins counts for both. Ranks are among all origins on each side. Counts here use a longer window than the origin pages, which chart the last 12 quarters, so they will not match those pages. No rates are compared: EU rates use EU import values and US rates use US import values, so they do not share a denominator.

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