Pesticide residues

Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (Host Government - The Netherlands)

The Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCPR) provides recommendations to the Codex Alimentarius Commission about maximum limits for pesticide residues for specific food items or groups of food.

A Codex Maximum Limit for Pesticide Residues (MRL) is the maximum concentration of pesticide residue (expressed as mg/kg), recommended by the Codex Alimentarius Commission to be legally permitted in or on food commodities and animal feeds. Foods derived from commodities that comply with MRLs are intended to be toxicologically acceptable and safe for human consumption.

Codex MRLs apply in international trade and are derived from evaluations conducted by the Joint Meeting on Pesticide Residues (JMPR).

Existing Codex Standards

A number of standards relating to pesticide residues* have been endorsed and adopted into the international food code. They include standards on:

Analysis of Pesticide Residues: Guidelines on Good Laboratory Practice in Pesticide Residue Analysis
Analysis of Pesticide Residues: Portion of Commodities to which Codex MRLS apply and which is analysed
Analysis of Pesticide Residues: Recommended Methods
Extraneous Maximum Residue Limits (EMRLs)
Methods of Sampling for Pesticide Residues for the Determination of Compliance with MRLs

Outcomes of the 32nd Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission

The 32nd Commission adopted at Step 8 and 5/8, the:

Maximum Residue Limits for pesticides as proposed in Appendix II and III with the addition of the MRL for spirotetramat (234) at 0.7mg/kg for pome fruits as it had inadvertently be omitted from the report.

The 32nd Commission adopted at Step 5, the:

Proposed draft MRLs for Pesticides
Proposed draft revision of the Codex Classification of Foods and Animal Feeds: Proposals for eight commodity groups: Bulb vegetables, other than cucrbits; Berries and other small fruits; Edible fungi; Citrus fruits; Stone fruits; and Oilseeds.

The 32nd Commission also approved new work on Priority List of Pesticides and approved discontinuation of work on the Proposed Draft and draft Maximum Residue Limits for Pesticides.

* This is an indicative list only. For a full list of standards approved by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, please consult its Official List of Standards

Last Meeting

The 41st Session of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues was held in Beijing, China, from 20-25 April 2009.

At this meeting the Committee agreed to recommend to the 31st Session of the Commission the:

adoption of draft and draft revised MRLs at Step 8, including proposed draft MRLs at Step 5/8, for pesticide/commodity combinations
adoption of proposed draft MRLs at Step 5 for pesticide/commodity combinations
Adoption of the proposed draft revision of the Codex Classification of Foods and Animal Feeds for eight commodity groups.

New Work

Priority List for the establishment of MRLs for pesticide/commodity combinations.

Discontinuation of Work

Discontinuation of work on the establishment of MRLs for pesticide/commodity combinations.

Revocation of MRLs

Revocation of Codex MRLs for pesticide/commodity combinations

Matters of Interest to the Codex Alimentarius Commission

The committee:

agreed to retain several draft and proposed draft MRLs at Steps 7 and 4 respectively awaiting for JMPR evaluation
agreed to return several draft MRLs to Step 6 for further comments and consideration at its next session
agreed to return the proposed draft revision of the Guidelines on the Estimation of Uncertainty of Results for the Determination of Pesticide Residues to Step 3 for circulation for additional comments and consideration at its next session
agreed that the Codex Secretariat would prepare a paper containing an analysis of the references to pesticide residues in CODEX STAN 229-1993 and various sections of Volume 2 of the Codex Alimentarius, which had been discontinued for publication, for consideration at its next session
agreed that the Codex Secretariat would issue a Circular Letter requesting monitoring data for persistent organic pollutants (POPs), falling under the Stockholm Convention and the mandate of the Committee, for commodities for which Codex extraneous maximum residue limits (EMRLs) have been or should be established, for consideration at its next session
agreed that a list of validated analytical methods for the determination of pesticide residues in natural mineral waters would not be developed but maintained as a repository list on the IAEA website and to this purpose, information on such methods would be gathered by means of a Circular Letter to be issued by the Codex Secretariat agreed to return the proposed draft Principles and Guidelines for the Selection of Representative Commodities for the Extrapolation of MRLs for Commodity Groups to Step 2 for redrafting, circulation for additional comments and consideration at its next session
agreed to discontinue the consideration of a pilot project for achieving globally harmonized MRLs through Codex as no consensus could be reached to initiate such a project
agreed to return the Risk Analysis Principles applied by the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues for further revision, circulation for additional comments and consideration at its next session. The Committee acknowledged that the revision should be finalized by 2010 as the Committee on General Principles would review the consistency of risk analysis principles elaborated by relevant subsidiary bodies of the Commission in 2011
agreed to continue to identify and address issues related to minor uses and specialty crops; elaborate definitions of these terms for use by CCPR and JMPR; identify priority minor uses and specialty crops for MRLs setting for their inclusion in the Priority List and facilitate their submission to JMPR
noted the information and conclusion on the evaluation of distribution of pesticide residues after primary process in selected products and agreed that a paper on the use of Kow (n-octanol-water partition coefficient) for the estimation of processing factors would be prepared for consideration at its next session
agreed that there was no need for further elaboration of principles and practices related to the establishment of MRLs for processed foods.

Download the report from this meeting

Next Meeting

The 42nd Session of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues will be held in Xian, China, from 19–24 April 2010.

Download the agenda for this meeting