All local chicken egg farms have been given a clean bill of health following restrictions put into place after fipronil traces were discovered in local eggs last August. 

Restrictions on three remaining farms have now been lifted and all locally-produced chicken eggs have been confirmed to contain no fipronil residue above the EU-established safe threshold.  

The tests mean Malta is currently the only EU member state to have tested all of its commercial farms for traces of fipronil, a pesticide which can be toxic to humans.

In a joint statement announcing the news, the Veterinary Regulation Directorate and Environmental Health Directorate provided information about the steps they had put into place after traces of fipronil were first discovered late in August. 

Samples from five suspect farms had been sent to Germany for a first round of testing on September 5. Three of the five tested positive for fipronil and were banned from selling any eggs. 

All other local farms were also subjected to testing, with all of them testing negative for the contaminants. 

Authorities took weekly samples from the three restricted farms and sent them to the UK and Germany for continued testing. After six weeks of testing, all farms passed the EU-established benchmark on October 16.