Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency
23 June 2011
ISSN: 1925-0843 (PDF version)
Catalogue number: H113-24/2011-21E-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 new uses on garden beets to the product label of Upbeet Herbicide Dry Flowable 50%, containing technical grade triflusulfuron-methyl, is acceptable. The specific uses approved in Canada are detailed on the label of Upbeet Herbicide Dry Flowable 50%, Pest Control Products Act Registration Number 25813.

The evaluation of this triflusulfuron-methyl application indicated that the end-use product has merit and value and 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.^{Footnote 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 triflusulfuron-methyl is being conducted via this document (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 for triflusulfuron-methyl in Canada in or on food, to be added to the MRLs already legally established, are as follows.

Table 1 - Proposed Maximum Residue Limits for Triflusulfuron-Methyl

Common Name	Residue DefinitionFootnote 2	MRL (ppm)	Food Commodity
Triflusulfuron-methyl	methyl 2-[[[[[4-(dimethylamino)-6-(2,2,2-trifluoroethoxy)-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl]amino] carbonyl]amino]sulfonyl]-3-methylbenzoate	0.01	Garden beet roots, garden beet tops

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. Table 2 compares the proposed MRLs for triflusulfuron-methyl in Canada with corresponding tolerances established in the United States (tolerances are listed in the  Electronic Code of Federal Regulations by pesticide).

Codex MRLs^{Footnote 3} have not been established for triflusulfuron-methyl in or on any commodity. A listing of 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)
Garden beet roots	0.01	0.01	Not established
Garden beet tops	0.01	0.02	Not established

Next Steps

The PMRA invites the public to submit written comments on the proposed MRLs for triflusulfuron-methyl 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 triflusulfuron-methyl and posting a corresponding Established Maximum Residue Limit document in the Pesticides and Pest Management section of Health Canada's website.