March 10, 2008

ISSUE 1209

EU ANNOUNCES NEW HARMONIZED MAXIMUM RESIDUE LEVELS

The European Parliament has announced the publication of new maximum residue levels for products exported to the European Union. The single, harmonized MRL list will replace individual country MRLs for all EU member countries.

Revised MRLs for several commonly used pesticides are much lower than U.S. tolerances, according to Dan Botts, FFVA’s director of Environmental and Pest Management Division. It’s important that FFVA members who export to the EU become familiar with the new levels, which become effective Sept. 1.

If a specific MRL has not been established for a pesticide, the default level will be 0.01 part per million, significantly below U.S. tolerances. The tables can be found online at http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2008:058:0001:0398:EN:PDF.