Notice to the reader: The online consultation is now closed. Comments and suggestions received during the public consultation period are being considered in the finalization of this document. The final report will be made available as soon as possible.
18 February 2009
HC Pub: 8022
ISBN: 978-1-100-11632-7 (978-1-100-11633-4)
Cat. No.: H113-24/2009-6E (H113-24/2009-6E-PDF)
Help on accessing alternative formats, such as Portable Document Format (PDF), Microsoft Word and PowerPoint (PPT) files, can be obtained in the alternate format help section.
On 20 December 2006, Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) published a document entitled Proposed Maximum Residue Limit document PMRL2006-01, Transitioning the Legal Establishment of Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for Pesticides from the Food and Drugs Act to the Pest Control Products Act: Consultation on Proposed MRLs. The document included over 2000 MRLs proposed by the PMRA prior to the new Pest Control Products Act coming into force on 28 June 2006, that had not been prepublished for comment in the Canada Gazette, Part I. These MRLs were legally established on 9 July 2008 via publication in the Established Maximum Residue Limit document EMRL2008-02, Transitioning the Legal Establishment of Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for Pesticides From the Food and Drugs Act to the Pest Control Products Act: Establishment of MRLs.
It was subsequently noted that MRLs for four chemicals were inadvertently omitted from PMRL2006-01. As a result, under the authority of the Pest Control Products Act, Health Canada's PMRA is consulting on these outstanding MRLs via this addendum (see Next Steps).
To comply with Canada's international trade obligations, consultation on the proposed MRLs is also being conducted internationally by notifying the World Trade Organization, as coordinated by the Standards Council of Canada.
The proposed MRLs in Canada in or on food, to be added to those already legally established for each chemical, are as follows.
| Common Name | Residue Definition | MRL (ppm) | Food Commodity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clethodim | (E,E)-(±)-2-[1-[[(3-chloro-2-propenyl)oxy]imino]propyl]-5- [2-(ethylthio) propyl]-3-hydroxy-2-cyclohexen-1- one, including metabolites containing the 2-cyclohex-1-enone moiety |
3.0 | Coriander seed |
| 0.7 | Fenugreek seed | ||
| Fosetyl-aluminum | aluminum tris(O-ethylphosphonate) | 40 | Bushberries (Crop Subgroup 13-07B), turnip tops |
| 15 | Turnip roots | ||
| 10 | Green onions | ||
| 9.0 | Citrus fruits (Crop Group 10) | ||
| 0.3 | Succulent shelled English peas, succulent shelled garden peas, succulent shelled green peas, succulent shelled peas, succulent shelled pigeon peas | ||
| 0.05 | Caneberries (Crop Subgroup 13-07A); fat, meat and meat byproducts of cattle, goats, hogs, horses and sheep; ginseng roots | ||
| 0.02 | Milk | ||
| Iprodione | 3-(3,5-dichlorophenyl)-n-isopropyl- 2-4-dioxoimidazolidine-1 carboxamide, including the metabolites 3-isopropyl-N-(3,5-dichlorophenyl)- 2,4-dioxoimidazolidine-1-carboxamide and 3-(3,5-dichlorophenyl)- 2,4-dioxoimidazolidine-1-carboxamide |
13 | Leeks |
| Lambda-cyhalothrin | (S)-α-cyano-3-phenoxybenzyl (Z)-(1R,3R )-3-(2-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoroprop-1-enyl) -2,2-dimethylcyclopropanecarboxylate and (R)-α-cyano-3-phenoxybenzyl (Z)-(1S,3S )-3-(2-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoroprop-1-enyl) -2,2-dimethylcyclopropanecarboxylate, including the epimer, in a 1:1 mixture, (R)-α-cyano-3-phenoxybenzyl (Z)-(1R,3R )-3-(2-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoroprop-1-enyl) -2,2-dimethylcyclopropanecarboxylate and (S)-α-cyano-3-phenoxybenzyl (Z)-(1S,3S)-3-(2-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoroprop-1-enyl) -2,2-dimethylcyclopropanecarboxylate |
0.02 | Asparagus |
A complete list of all MRLs established in Canada can be found on the PMRA's MRL webpage.
MRLs may vary from one country to another for a number of reasons including differences in pesticide use patterns and the locations of the field crop trials used to generate residue chemistry data. For livestock commodities, differences in MRLs can also be due to different livestock feed items and practices.
Table 2 identifies differences between the proposed Canadian MRLs, American tolerances (tolerances listed in
40 CFR Part 180 by pesticide) and Codex1 MRLs (
Codex MRLs searchable by pesticide or commodity). For many of the proposed Canadian MRLs there is no corresponding American tolerance and Codex MRLs have not been established for any of the chemicals/commodities proposed herein.
| Common Name | Food Commodity | Canadian MRL(ppm) | American Tolerance (ppm) | Codex MRL (ppm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clethodim | Coriander seed | 3.0 | No tolerances established | No MRLs established |
| Fenugreek seed | 0.7 | |||
| Fosetyl-aluminum | Citrus fruits (Crop Group 10) | 9.0 | 5.0 | No MRLs established for fosetyl aluminum on any commodity |
| Caneberries (Crop Subgroup 13-07A) | 0.05 | 0.1* | ||
| Ginseng | 0.05 | 0.1 | ||
| Fat, meat and meat byproducts of cattle, goats, hogs, horses and sheep | 0.05 | No tolerances established on any livestock commodity | ||
| Milk | 0.02 | |||
| Iprodione | Leeks | 13 | No tolerance established | No MRL established |
| Lambda-cyhalothrin | Asparagus | 0.02 | No tolerance established | No MRL established |
* Covered by the tolerance established for "Caneberry, subgroup 13A".
The PMRA invites the public to submit written comments on the proposed MRLs up to 75 days from the date of publication of this document. Please forward your comments to Publications (see the contact information on the cover page of this document). The PMRA will consider all comments received before making a final decision on the proposed MRLs and posting a corresponding Established Maximum Residue Limit (EMRL) document on the PMRA website.
| Crop Group Number | Name of the Crop Group | Food Commodities Included in the Crop Group |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Citrus fruits | Australian desert limes Australian finger limes Australian round limes Brown River finger limes Calamondins Citrus citron Citrus hybrids Grapefruits Japanese summer grapefruits Kumquats Lemons Limes Mediterranean mandarins Mount White limes New Guinea wild limes Oranges Pummelos Russell River limes Satsuma mandarins Sweet limes Tachibana oranges Tahiti limes Tangelos Tangerines Tangors Trifoliate oranges Uniq fruits |
| 13-07A | Berry and small fruit Caneberry Subgroup |
Blackberries Loganberries Raspberries (red and black) Wild raspberries Cultivars and/or hybrids of the above |
| 13-07B | Berry and small fruit Bushberry Subgroup |
Aronia berries Buffalo currants Chilean guavas Currants (red and black) Elderberries European barberries Gooseberries Highbush blueberries Highbush cranberries Huckleberries Honeysuckle Jostaberries Lingonberries Lowbush blueberries Native currants Salal berries Saskatoon berries (juneberries) Sea buckthorn Cultivars, varieties and/or hybrids of these |
1 Codex is an international organization under the auspices of the United Nations that develops international food standards, including MRLs.