09 March 2010
HC Pub: 100064
ISBN: 978-1-100-14333-0 (print version)
ISBN: 978-1-100-14334-7 (PDF version)
Catalogue number: H113-24/2010-16E (print version)
Catalogue number: H113-24/2010-16E-PDF (PDF version)

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.

Under the authority of the Pest Control Products Act, Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) has concluded that the addition of new uses on stone fruits (Crop Group 12) to the product label of Assail 70 WP Insecticide, containing technical grade acetamiprid, is acceptable. The specific uses approved in Canada are detailed on the label of Assail 70 WP Insecticide, Pest Control Products Act Registration Number 27128.

The evaluation of this acetamiprid application indicated that the end-use product has merit and value and that the human health and environmental risks associated with the new uses are acceptable. Details regarding the registration 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 Database.¹

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 acetamiprid 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 acetamiprid 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 Acetamiprid

Common Name	Residue Definition	MRL (ppm)	Food Commodity
Acetamiprid	(E)-N-[(6-chloro-3-pyridyl)methyl]-N'-cyano-N-methylethanimidamide	0.7	Apricots, nectarines, peaches, sweet cherries, tart cherries
		0.4	Dried prune plums
		0.2	Plumcots, plums, prune plums

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, certain MRLs proposed for acetamiprid in Canada differ from the corresponding American tolerances (tolerances listed in the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations by pesticide). Currently, Codex² MRLs have not been established for acetamiprid on any commodity. A listing of all established Codex MRLs is available on the Codex Alimentarius  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)
Apricots, nectarines, peaches, sweet cherries, tart cherries	0.7	1.2 (Fruit, stone, group 12, except plum, prune)	No MRL established
Plumcots, plums	0.2	1.2 (Fruit, stone, group 12, except plum, prune)	No MRL established
Dried prune plums	0.4	0.4 (Plum, prune, dried)	No MRL established
Prune plums	0.2	0.2 (Plum, prune, fresh)	No MRL established

Next Steps

The PMRA invites the public to submit written comments on the proposed MRLs for acetamiprid 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 acetamiprid and posting a corresponding Established Maximum Residue Limit (EMRL) document in the Pesticides and Pest Management portion of the Health Canada website.