Foodlaw-Reading Dr David Jukes, The University of Reading, UK
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Food Law News - EU - 2015

Council Minutes, 22 October 2015

RESIDUES - Pesticides - maximum residue levels: Council discussions

The following is an extract from the minutes of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting

The Council decided not to oppose the adoption of three Commission regulations amending annexes II and III to regulation 396/20053 as regards:

• maximum residue levels for abamectin, desmedipham, dichlorprop-P, haloxyfop-P, oryzalin and phenmedipham in or on certain products (11892/15)
• maximum residue levels for bifenazate, boscalid, cyazofamid, cyromazine, dazomet, dithiocarbamates, fluazifop-P, mepanipyrim, metrafenone, picloram, propamocarb, pyridaben, pyriofenone, sulfoxaflor, tebuconazole, tebufenpyrad and thiram in or on certain products (11820/15)

Regulation 396/2005 establishes the maximum quantities of pesticide residues permitted in products of animal or vegetable origin intended for human or animal consumption. These maximum residue levels (MRLs) include, on the one hand, MRLs which are specific to particular foodstuffs intended for human or animal consumption and, on the other, a general limit which applies where no specific MRL has been set. MRL applications are communicated to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) which issue a scientific opinion on each intended new MRL. Based on EFSA's opinion, the Commission proposes a regulation such as those listed above to establish a new MRL or to amend or remove an existing MRL and modifying the annexes of regulation 396/2005 accordingly.

These Commission regulations are subject to the regulatory procedure with scrutiny. This means that now that the Council has given its consent, the Commission may adopt the regulations, unless the European Parliament objects.