Objective of the study

Maximum residue levels (MRLs) established internationally, or in other countries or regions, for the same or similar commodities, may provide guidance to the registrar when setting national MRLs.

Of particular importance are Codex Alimentarius MRLs, which are internationally accepted food standards with respect to pesticide residues that have been established after thorough scientific evaluation. One of the main objectives of the Codex is to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in the food trade.

Various international fora, such as the United Nations, World Food Sumnmits, and FAO and WHO governing bodies, have recommended that Codex standards, such as MRLs, should be supported and, as far as possible, adopted when developing national food safety policy and legislation.

With respect to international trade in food products, the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) and the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement) both consider Codex standards as the benchmarks against which national food measures and regulations are evaluated.

A registrar may also wish to review MRLs from countries that import food commodities from their country, to ensure that the registered national GAPs will not lead to exceedance of the MRLs or import tolerances of the importing countries.

Circumstances in which the information is required

MRLs from other countries or regions may be reviewed where the pesticide is to be applied to plants or plant products that are used as food or feed, or where residues from soil or other substrates can be taken up by such plants.

Procedures

MRLs should be requested for the same pesticide, the same or similar formulations, and for the same crop or commodity. In certain cases, MRLs for similar crops but from the same crop group may also be relevant (see Assessment Methods – Residue crop groupings). {link to be provided later}

When assessing the relevance of MRLs from other countries or regions for the national situation, the GAP table for the pesticide being submitted for registration should be compared to the critical-GAP information used to establish the MRLs of the other country.

Codex MRLs are, by definition, global critical GAPs and should, in principle, cover the agricultural practices in the country. However, a comparison of the Codex critical GAP and the GAP table for the pesticide being submitted for registration may be useful to review the applicability of the Codex MRL to the national situation.

Typical endpoints

Maximum residue levels (MRLs) and associated critical Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) information.

MRL databases

Various databases exist to verify MRLs established under the Codex Alimentarius, or by national or regional regulatory bodies. See the Information Sources tool on MRLs