Federal Administrative Court announces decision on sales ban for wines with insecticide residues

In the legal dispute about a ban on the sale of wine that contained residues of an unapproved insecticide, the Federal Administrative Court will announce a decision on Thursday. Specifically, it is about the ban on several wines, which was imposed by the district of Meißen in June 2016, because the content of dimethoate had exceeded the value of 0.01 milligrams per kilo. This pesticide had not been approved in Germany at that time, it was said in the reasoning of the Bautzen Higher Administrative Court, which had rejected the appeal of the Meißen winegrowers' cooperative.

The Leipzig administrative judges, however, now referred to an EU regulation that allowed exceptions. Therein limits of 0.02 milligrams per kilo for Dimethoat were specified, because these values were not classified as health-endangering. The wine in question had fallen below this value. This must now be weighed, stressed the Senate Chairman Renate Philipp.

The procedure is related to the so-called wine scandal in Saxony. The stone to this was in the fall of 2015 during a routine control at a winery in the district of Meißen in rolling. At that time, residues of dimethoate were found. The Meißen winegrowers' cooperative had produced the wines from grapes supplied by members. In the meantime, the control system has been changed. In the meantime, all quality and predicate wines are analyzed centrally via the state testing institute in a modified testing procedure.