Foodlaw-Reading
Dr David Jukes, The University of Reading, UK
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HSE Pesticides ebulletin, 30 October 2023
This ebulletin includes information on the Plant Protection Products (PPP) regulations in Great Britain (GB).
GB MRL amendments (adopted September 2023)
There have been recent amendments to the GB maximum residue level (MRL) Statutory Register, setting new statutory levels.
In order to meet the requirements of international trade, new MRLs have been set in the GB MRL Statutory Register for the following active/commodity combinations:
The new MRLs came into force on 27 September 2023 as indicated in the GB MRL Statutory Register.
The evaluation reports, reasoned opinions and decision documents supporting the new MRLs are available on the HSE website.
Future GB MRL amendments (adopted October 2023)
Chlorpropham is no longer an approved active substance in GB and all plant protection product authorisations have been withdrawn.
As notified in our ebuletin of 4 August 2023 harmful effects on human health cannot be excluded. Therefore it was proposed that the current MRL for potatoes of 10 mg/kg should be lowered. To account for the potential contamination of untreated potatoes when stored in facilities where chlorpropham has been previously used, a temporary Maximum Residue Level (tMRL) of 0.35 mg/kg was proposed.
For all other commodities it was proposed to lower the MRLs to the limit of quantification.
Following completion of the notification process to the World Trade Organization, a tMRL of 0.35 mg/kg for potatoes was adopted. All other MRLs were adopted at the limit of quantification. The new MRLs were adopted on the 10 October 2023. In order to allow trading partners and food business operators time to adjust to the new lower MRLs, the date of entry into force of the new MRLs is 10 April 2024.
The continued validity of the tMRL for potatoes must be reassessed by the submission of supplementary information to HSE. The full details of the supplementary information requirements are outlined in the final Reasoned Opinion of the review of the MRLs for chlorpropham that is available here: The review of the existing MRLs for chlorpropham (.pdf).
The future MRLs can be reviewed on the HSE website in the decision document: MRL reviews. The current MRLs in the GB MRL Statutory Register have an expiry date of 09 April 2024 and the new MRLs will appear in the register from 10 April 2024.
