EU countries highlight burden of MRL reviews
Date:07-21-2008
The European Commission is to clarify procedures regarding the review of maximum residue limits (MRLs) of pesticides that are already approved at EU level. The move comes after some EU member states urged the Commission to find ways to reduce the workload placed on them by the new EU pesticide MRL Regulation (396/2005). Germany, supported by Sweden, Ireland, France and Belgium, highlighted the issue at a recent residues meeting of the EU Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health.
Regulation 396/2005 initiated a programme to establish harmonised EU MRLs for individual pesticide/crop combinations. The EU MRLs will eventually replace the existing national MRLs. The work has been hampered by delays in setting up the Regulation's annexes, which will contain the agreed MRLs, and the new rules are not expected to be fully implemented until later this year.
Once the new system comes into force, EU MRLs will be set at the same time as an active ingredient is evaluated for EU approval and inclusion in Annex I of the EU agrochemical registration Directive (91/414). However, the new rules will also impose the requirement for ais already on Annex I to have their MRLs reviewed within 12 months and amended if necessary. At the recent meeting, Germany pointed out that this means more work for the rapporteur member states that originally evaluated the ai for Annex I. They will be expected to help the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in the MRL review.
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