National Monitoring Plan for POAO: Data Analysis Report 2023-24

Figure 1: Samples taken by hazard & percentages of total

The majority of the samples taken were for veterinary residues (1150 or 56%), followed by microbiological hazards (560 or 27%); heavy metals (273 or 13%); biotoxins (50 or 3%) and chemical contaminants (29 or 1%). These ratios closely match those in the same categories in the previous twelve-months reporting period, except for veterinary residues where sampling has decreased by 10%, and heavy metals where sampling has doubled. The total amount of sampling during this period (2,062 samples) remains comparable to the previous period (2,212 samples). (fig 1)

Of the samples taken, a total of six were found to be non-compliant, compared to a total of 43 in the previous period. There were non-compliances in the following hazard categories: biotoxin, chemical contaminants and microbiological, compared with forty-three non-compliances in the previous period. (fig 2).

Figure 2: Non-compliances by country of origin, product & hazard

As the graph below shows, consignments from 39 countries were sampled, most frequently from India (591 or 29%), Thailand (267 or 13%), China (223 or 11%), Vietnam (152 or 7%), Brazil (130 or 6%), New Zealand (98 or 5%), Bangladesh (87 or 4%), Sri Lanka (66 or 3%) and Myanmar (65 or 3%). (fig 3) and percentages in graph chart (fig 4).

A horizontal bar chart titled “Number of samples taken by country of origin.” It lists 22 countries on the y-axis and the number of samples on the x-axis, ranging from 0 to 700. The countries and sample counts are: Papua New Guinea: 1 Namibia: 1 Madagascar: 1 Falkland Islands: 3 Mauritania: 4 South Korea: 4 Ghana: 5 Mexico: 6 Nicaragua: 6 Pakistan: 9 Türkiye: 10 Morocco: 15 Malaysia: 20 Chile: 28 Ukraine: 45 Myanmar: 46 Bangladesh: 66 Brazil: 87 China: 223 Thailand: 267 India: 591 India has the highest number of samples (591), followed by Thailand (267) and China (223). The smallest counts are from Papua New Guinea, Namibia, and Madagascar (1 each). A note at the bottom right reads “(fig 3).”

A horizontal bar chart titled “Percentage of samples taken by country of origin.” It shows percentages for 13 categories, including individual countries and an “Other” group. The values are: Other: 9% Chile: 2% Ecuador: 2% Ukraine: 2% Australia: 3% Myanmar: 3% Sri Lanka: 3% Bangladesh: 4% New Zealand: 5% Brazil: 6% Vietnam: 7% China: 11% Thailand: 13% India: 29% India has the largest share at 29%, followed by Thailand (13%) and China (11%). Countries sampled at less than 2% are grouped under “Other.” A note below the chart explains this grouping, and the bottom right reads “(fig 4).”

Figures 3 & 4: Samples taken by country of origin & percentage of total

A horizontal bar chart titled “Number of samples taken by product category.” It displays 12 categories with corresponding sample counts: Other: 55 Milk & milk products: 33 Shellfish: 39 Pet food: 42 Molluscs: 58 Honey: 64 Bovine: 78 Ovine: 82 Fish: 422 Poultry: 430 Crustaceans: 759 Crustaceans have the highest number of samples (759), followed by Poultry (430) and Fish (422). All other categories have fewer than 100 samples. The x-axis ranges from 0 to 800. A note at the bottom right reads “(fig 5).”

Figure 5: Samples taken by product category & percentage of total

Detailed analysis

Sampling for veterinary residues 

There were 1,150 samples from 22 countries (fig 6) taken and checked for the presence of veterinary residues. There were no non-compliant samples.

The greatest number of samples for veterinary residues were taken from India (529 or 46%), followed by Vietnam (110 or 10%), Brazil (94 or 8%), China (86 or 7%) and Thailand (86 or 7%). See chart on (fig 8) for percentages – countries marked with an asterisk are shown together as ‘other’ on the graph chart.

Figure 8: Samples taken by country of origin & percentage of total

* Countries marked with an asterisk have been sampled at less than 2% and appear together as ‘other’ on figure 8.  

Of the samples tested for veterinary residues, the highest numbers were for nitrofurans (243), chloramphenicol (228) followed by tetracyclines (211), avermectins (55), antibacterials (48), coccidiostats (45), macrolides (29) and benzimidazoles (25). (fig 7)

Samples tested for veterinary residues

 (fig 7)

A horizontal bar chart titled “Percentage of consignments by country of origin sampled for veterinary residues.” It shows percentages for 10 categories, including individual countries and an “Other” group. The values are: Other: 6% Bangladesh: 2% Australia: 4% New Zealand: 4% Myanmar: 6% Thailand: 7% China: 7% Brazil: 8% Vietnam: 10% India: 46% India has the largest share at 46%, followed by Vietnam (10%) and Brazil (8%). Countries sampled at less than 2% are grouped under “Other.” A note below the chart explains this grouping, and the bottom right reads “(fig 8).”

Sampling for microbiological contamination

There were 560 samples from 22 countries (fig 9) taken and checked for the presence of microbiological contamination. There were four non-compliant results identified: one each for Eschericia coli in ovine from Australia and Salmonella in pet food from China; and two for Enterobacteriaceae in milk products from Ukraine.

The greatest number of microbiological samples, were taken from Thailand (167 or 30%), China (96 or 17%), New Zealand (43 or 8%), Ukraine (35 or 6%), Brazil (32 or 6%), Vietnam (29 or 5%), Chile (27 or 5%), Malaysia (21 or 4%), Canada (20 or 4%), Indonesia (17 or 3%), Sri Lanka (12 or 2%), Australia (11 or 2%) and India (11 or 2%). See graph chart on (fig 11) for percentages – countries marked with an asterisk below are shown together as ‘other’ on the chart.

Figure 11: Samples taken by country of origin & percentages of total

(fig 9)

* Countries marked with an asterisk have been sampled at less than 2% and appear together as ‘other’ on figure 11.

Of the samples tested for microbiological contamination, the highest numbers were for Salmonella (120), followed by Eschericia coli (81), Enterobacteriaceae (72), aerobic microorganisms 30°C (49), Listeria monocytogenes (36), Staphylococcus aureus (35), Listeria spp (excl L monocytogenes) (27) and Clostridium perfringens (21) (fig 10)

Samples tested for microbiological contamination

(fig 10)

A horizontal bar chart titled “Percentage of consignments by country of origin sampled for microbiological contamination.” It shows percentages for 15 categories, including individual countries and an “Other” group. The values are: Other: 4% India: 2% Australia: 2% Sri Lanka: 2% Ecuador: 3% Indonesia: 3% Canada: 4% Malaysia: 4% Chile: 5% Vietnam: 5% Brazil: 6% Ukraine: 6% New Zealand: 8% China: 17% Thailand: 30% Thailand has the largest share at 30%, followed by China (17%) and New Zealand (8%). Countries sampled at less than 2% are grouped under “Other.” A note below the chart explains this grouping, and the bottom right reads “(fig 11).”

Sampling for heavy metals

There were 273 samples from 21 countries (fig 12) taken and checked for the presence of heavy metals. There were no non-compliant samples. The greatest number of heavy metals samples were taken from Bangladesh (66 or 24%), followed by Sri Lanka (54 or 20%), India (33 or 12%), China (29 or 11%) and Morocco (14 or 5%). See chart on (fig 14) for percentages – countries marked with an asterisk below are shown together as ‘other’ on the chart.

Figure 14: Samples taken by country of origin & percentage of total

(fig 12)

* Countries marked with an asterisk have been sampled at less than 2% and appear together as ‘other’ on figure 14.

Of the samples tested for heavy metals, the highest numbers were for lead Pb (89) followed by mercury Hg (88), cadmium Cd (69) and arsenic As (24). (fig 13)

Samples tested for heavy metals

(fig 13)

Sampling for biotoxins

There were 50 samples from 12 countries (fig 15) taken and checked for the presence of biotoxins. There was one non-compliant sample for histamine from Vietnam. The greatest number of samples for biotoxins were taken from India (12 or 24%) followed by China (8 or 16%), Ecuador (6 or 12%) and Thailand (6 or 12%). See chart on (fig 17) for percentages.

Figure 17: Samples taken by country of origin & percentage of total

(fig 15)

Of the samples tested for biotoxins, only histamine was recorded (50) (fig 16)

Samples tested for chemical biotoxin

  (fig 16)

Sampling for chemical contaminants

here were 29 samples from 9 countries (fig 18) taken and checked for the presence of chemical contaminants. There was one non-compliant sample for chlorate in chicken from Ukraine. The greatest number of samples for chemical contaminants were taken from India (6 or 21%), Ukraine (5 or 17%), China (4 or 14%) and Türkiye (4 or 14%). See chart on (fig 20).

Samples taken by country of origin & percentage of total

 (fig 18)

Of the samples tested for chemical contaminants, the highest number were for lead Pb (89), followed by mercury Hg (88), cadmium Cd (69) and arsenic As (24). (fig 19)

Samples tested for chemical contaminants

 (fig 19)

A horizontal bar chart titled “Percentage of consignments by country of origin sampled for chemical contaminants.” It shows percentages for nine countries. The values are: Japan: 3% Pakistan: 7% New Zealand: 7% Brazil: 7% Ecuador: 10% Türkiye: 14% China: 14% Ukraine: 17% India: 21% India has the highest percentage at 21%, followed by Ukraine (17%) and China/Türkiye (14% each). Japan has the smallest share at 3%. The x-axis ranges from 0% to 25%. The bottom right reads “(fig 20).”

Sampling of pet food (dog or cat food & other pet food)

here were 42 samples from 5 countries (fig 21) taken and checked for Salmonella spp., Enterobacteriaceae, chloramphenicol and nitrofurans. There was one non-compliant result for Salmonella in pet food from China. The greatest number pet food samples were taken from China (24 or 57%) and India (12 or 29%). See chart on (fig 23) for percentages.

Samples taken by country of origin & percentage of total

(fig 21)

Of the samples of pet food tested, the highest number of tests was for Salmonella spp (45). (fig 22)

Samples of pet food tested

(fig 22)