The Efficacy of the Use of Pesticides and Chemical Fertiisers on the RASFF Notifications about the Food Products Originating from Türkiye

In this study, the notifications in the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) reports about the food products originating from Türkiye were examined. Our aim is to investigate whether the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers was effective in the notifications. An econometric model was applied to analyse the relationship between the pesticides and chemical fertilizers used in Turkey, and the notifications. The relationship between the variables was tested with the Johansen cointegration test. Our findings show that there is no negative effect of the use of chemical fertilizers on the notifications. However, positive effect of the agricultural use of pesticides was observed. One percent increase in pesticide use causes an increase of the notifications by 1.95 percent. In order to reduce the use of chemical pesticides and prevent residues, our producers can benefit from the biological and biotechnical control support provided by the T.R. Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (2019). Since the European Union is an important partner in agricultural trade, the use of pesticides in agricultural production should be reduced. We add value to literature about the RASFF Notifications, since there are a few studies about this subject. The strength of this work is its focus on the affect of pesticides and chemical fertilisers on the notifications sent to Türkiye.