10 February 2010
HC Pub: 091148
ISBN: 978-1-100-14224-1 (print publication)
ISBN: 978-1-100-14225-8 (PDF version)
Catalogue number: H113-24/2010-10E (print publication)
Catalogue number: H113-24/2010-10E-PDF (PDF version)

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Under the authority of the Pest Control Products Act, Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) has concluded that the addition of uses on potato and sweet corn to the product labels of Bravo 720 and Bravo Ultrex, containing technical grade chlorothalonil, is acceptable. The specific uses approved in Canada are detailed on the labels of Bravo 720 and Bravo Ultrex, Pest Control Products ActRegistration Number 29225 and 29306, respectively.

The evaluation of these chlorothalonil applications indicated that the end-use products have merit and value and that the human health and environmental risks associated with the new uses are acceptable. Details regarding the registrations can be found in the corresponding Evaluation Report that is available in the Pesticides and Pest Management section of Health Canada's website, under Public Registry, Pesticide Product Information Database¹.

Before registering a pesticide for food use in Canada, the PMRA must determine the quantity of residues that are likely to remain in or on the food when the pesticide is used according to label directions and that such residues will not be a concern to human health. This quantity is then legally established as a maximum residue limit (MRL). An MRL applies to the identified raw agricultural food commodity as well as to any processed food product that contains it, except where separate MRLs are specified for the raw agricultural commodity and a processed product made from it.

Consultation on the proposed MRLs for chlorothalonil is being conducted via this document (see Next Steps, the last section of this document).

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 for chlorothalonil in Canada in or on food, to be added to those MRLs already legally established, are as follows.

Table 1 - Proposed Maximum Residue Limits for Chlorothalonil

Common Name	Residue Definition2	MRL (ppm)	Food Commodity
Chlorothalonil	2,4,5,6-tetrachloro-1,3-benzenedicarbonitrile, including the metabolite 4-hydroxy-2,5,6-trichloro-1,3-benzenedicarbonitrile	0.08	Potatoes
		0.02	Sweet corn kernels plus cob with husks removed

A complete list of all MRLs established in Canada can be found on the Maximum Residue Limits for Pesticides webpage in the Pesticides and Pest Management section of Health Canada's website.

International Situation and Trade Implications

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. As per Table 2, the proposed MRLs for chlorothalonil in Canada differ from the corresponding tolerances established in the United States (tolerances listed in the  Electronic Code of Federal Regulations by pesticide) and Codex MRLs³. A listing of Codex MRLs is available on the  Pesticide Residues in Food website.

Table 2 - Comparison of Canadian MRLs, American Tolerances and Codex MRLs

Food Commodity	Canadian MRL (ppm)	American Tolerance (ppm)	Codex MRL (ppm)
Potatoes	0.08	0.1	0.2
Sweet corn kernels plus cob with husks removed	0.02	1.0	0.01

Next Steps

The PMRA invites the public to submit written comments on the proposed MRLs for chlorothalonil up to 75 days from the date of publication of this document. Please forward your comments to Publications. The PMRA will consider all comments received before making a final decision on the proposed MRLs for chlorothalonil and posting a corresponding Established Maximum Residue Limit (EMRL) document in the Pesticides and Pest Management section of Health Canada's website.