Maximum residue levels for abamectin

Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/198 of 30 January 2023 amending Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards maximum residue levels for abamectin in or on certain products

Update

The EU has amended the maximum residue levels (MRLs) for abamectin. Lower MRLs have been set for certain tree nuts, fruits and fruiting vegetables, and certain salads, but MRLs have increased for other salads, legume vegetables and cotton seeds.

Impacted Products

almonds, hazelnuts, cobnuts, walnuts apples, pears, quinces, medlars, loquats, Japanese medlars, strawberries, avocados, papayas, tomatoes, sweet peppers, bell peppers, cucumber, courgettes, lamb’s lettuces, corn salads, lettuces, escaroles, broad leaved endives, cresses, sprouts and shoots, land cresses, Roman rocket, rucola, brassicas, purslanes, chervil, celery leaves, parsley, beans, peas, Florence fennels, seeds

What is changing?

The changes to abamectin MRLs are set out in Table 1.

Why?

EFSA’s evaluation followed a request to modify existing MRLs for certain products (EFSA 2020a), and a request for import tolerances submitted by the USA for certain products in order to prevent barriers to trade (EFSA 2020b). For many products, EFSA established that there was no risk of exceeding the existing acceptable daily intake (ADI) or acute reference dose (ARfD) for abamectin.

However, when reviewing the approval for use of abamectin in the EU, on the basis of developmental neurotoxicity studies, EFSA proposed a lower ADI and ARfD. The European Commission asked EFSA to review certain MRLs in light of the lower ADI and ARfD. This review (EFSA 2021) identified unacceptable risks for a number of products, including apples, pears, strawberries, tomatoes, various salads and sweet peppers.

Timeline

The new MRLs will apply from 20 August 2023.

Recommended Actions

Suppliers of quinces, medlars, loquats/ Japanese medlars, strawberries, tomatoes, sweet peppers/ bell peppers, cucumbers, courgettes, lamb's lettuces/ corn salads, lettuces, chervil, parsley and celery leaves must review existing use of abamectin to ensure conformity of their products with new reduced abamectin MRLs by August 2023.

Suppliers of almonds, hazelnuts/ cobnuts, walnuts, apples, pears, papayas and escaroles/ broad-leaved endives must ensure that alternative solutions are found to existing use of abamectin on these products by August 2023.

Background

MRLs are set in accordance with the rules set out in Regulation 396/2005. For information on current MRLs for other substances, please consult the EU Pesticide Residues database.

Resources

Sources

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