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New EU MRLs Regime and Pesticide Residues Committee Reports

Pesticides Residues Committee

14 August 2008

The new EC Maximum Residue Regulation (396/2005/EC) and pesticide residue surveillance

What is the new EC Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs) regulation?

The Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs) in place at the moment come from a number of sources, and are not the same in all EC member states. EC Regulation 396/2005 sets up a system for setting common MRLs across the whole Community and introduces MRLs for a wide range of pesticides including all those in current use within the EC for virtually all relevant foodstuffs. For the first time, therefore, there will be a single comprehensive set of MRLs applicable throughout the European Community.

When does the new system come into effect?

The new MRLs come into effect from 1 September 2008.

However, there are transitional arrangements in the legislation which mean that food produced or imported into the European Community before 1 September does not have to comply with the new MRLs

Where can I find out more about the new rules?

The Commission web-site is a useful source of information in this area.

http://ec.europa.eu/food/plant/protection/pesticides/index_en.htm

How will the Pesticides Residues Commitee (PRC) take account of the introduction of the new rules?

We discussed this issue at our meeting in July 2008. We recognise that, even with the transitional arrangements, it will be impossible for some products to comply with the new MRLs. This will be the case particularly for produce imported from outside the EC where treatments with pesticides were made before the new rules were adopted. We, therefore, concluded that, in operating our ‘brand naming’ arrangements, as far as possible, we should aim for an approach which did not unfairly penalise such produce. We plan to take the following steps:

For samples taken from 1 September to the end of 2008, we know that the vast majority of samples will have been treated before 1 September. So we will check the residues we find against the MRLs in place on 31 August 2008.

For samples taken from 1 January 2009 until 31 December 2009 , we anticipate a mixture of samples treated before and after 1 September 2008 . For these we will check the residues we find against the MRLs in place on 1 September 2008 . If we find residues over those MRLs, we will look to see whether the sample was probably produced before 1 September 2008 . If we think it was, we will apply the old MRLs when publishing results.

For samples taken after 1 January 2010, we will apply the new MRLs. We expect that it will be relatively rare that a food which we analyse will have been treated before 1 September 2008 . However, for produce which has been stored for a substantial period it may still be relevant to apply the old MRL.

Should there be a situation where there were potential health issue in not meeting a new MRL we may have to vary this approach but we would expect this to arise rarely if at all.

We will keep this policy under review over the next eighteen months in the light of developments.

What is the position on the enforcement of the new MRLs?

Enforcement is a matter for the Pesticides Safety Directorate rather than the PRC.

Will other member states take the same approach?

Not necessarily. Enforcement is a matter for member states and thus other member states may choose to take a different approach in relation to enforcement and the publication of their analytical results.

Will you check when the food was produced before informing the brand owner and publishing?

Yes. We always inform the brand-owner, or retailer in the case of own-brand or foods sold loose, before we publish results that are above the MRL. This will not change.

But during 2009 we will have to choose the new or old MRLs and we will explain this to the brand-owner as well as in each report.

What about changes to UK approvals for use of pesticides that have followed the introduction of new MRLs?

Some changes to UK approvals for use are taking place to fit with the new MRLs.

If PSD suspect that a pesticide has been used in a way that is no longer approved on the date of treatment, they will investigate regardless of which set of MRLs rules applies. We will make our decision on whether or not to report the use as unapproved based on the outcome of those investigations.

How will these changes affect organic food?

Organic food has always been covered by the rules on pesticide residues. However, until now the pesticides used on organic food have tended not to have MRLs.

Under the new regulation there will be specific MRLs for most pesticides permitted in organic farming for the first time. This means that organic food producers and retailers will need to consider their due diligence procedures for produce treated with pesticides after 1 September 2008 and for food made from that produce.

How will these changes affect meat and fish?

Meat and other produce of animal origin have always been covered by the rules on pesticide residues but more MRLs will be established under the new regulation.

MRLs for fish are not set in the new regulation although it is the Commission’s intention to introduce some at a later stage.