Pest Management Regulatory Agency
13 July 2011
ISSN: 1925-0843 (PDF version)
Catalogue number: H113-24/2011-25E-PDF (PDF version)

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Under the authority of the  Pest Control Products Act, Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) is proposing to establish maximum residue limits (MRLs) for acetamiprid in or on bulb vegetables (Crop Group 3-07), edible-podded legume vegetables (Crop Subgroup 6A), edible shelled peas and beans (Crop Subgroup 6B), cucurbit vegetables (Crop Group 9), stone fruits (Crop Group 12-09), caneberries (Crop Subgroup 13-07A), bushberries (Crop Subgroup 13-07B), tree nuts (Crop Group 14) and pistachios to permit the import and sale of foods containing such residues.

Acetamiprid is an insecticide currently registered in Canada for use on a number of fruit, vegetable and oilseed commodities.

The PMRA has determined the quantity of residues that are likely to remain in or on the imported food commodities when acetamiprid is used according to label directions in the exporting country. The Agency has also determined that such residues will not be a concern to human health and is proposing to legally establish corresponding import MRLs. 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.

Details regarding the import MRLs can be found in the corresponding Evaluation Report that is available in the Pesticides and Pest Management section of Health Canada's Web site, under Public Registry, Pesticide Product Information Database.^{Footnote 1}

Consultation on the proposed import MRLs for acetamipridis 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 acetamiprid in Canada in or on food, to replace or be added to the MRLs already legally established, are as follows.

Table 1 - Proposed Maximum Residue Limits for Acetamiprid

Common Name	Residue Definition	MRL (ppm)	Food Commodity
Proposed to revise the currently established 0.6 ppm MRL for bushberries. Proposed to revise the currently established MRLs for stone fruits (0.7 ppm for apricots, nectarines, peaches, sweet cherries and tart cherries; 0.4 ppm for dried prune plums; and 0.2 ppm for plumcots, plums and prune plums).
Acetamiprid	(E)-N-[(6-chloro-3-pyridinyl)methyl]-N '-cyano-N-methylethanimidamide	4.0	Caneberries (Crop Subgroup 13-07A)
		3.0	Green Onions (Crop Subgroup 3-07B)
		1.6	Bushberries(Crop Subgroup 13-07B)
		1.2	Stone Fruits (Crop Group 12-09)
		0.6	Edible-Podded Legume Vegetables (Crop Subgroup 6A)
		0.5	Cucurbit Vegetables (Crop Group 9)
		0.4	Succulent Shelled Peas and Beans (Crop Subgroup 6B)
		0.1	Tree Nuts (Crop Group 14), pistachios
		0.02	Bulb Onions (Crop Subgroup 3-07A)

MRLs are proposed for each commodity included in the listed crop grouping in accordance with the Residue Chemistry Crop Groups Web page in the Pesticides and Pest Management section of Health Canada's Web site.

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

International Situation and Trade Implications

The proposed MRLs for acetamiprid in Canada are the same as corresponding tolerances established in the United States, except for the commodities listed in Table 2 (tolerances are listed in the  Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 40 CFR Part 180, by pesticide). Note that the proposed MRL for stone fruits in Canada will result in commodities without corresponding American tolerances as it applies to the expanded Crop Group 12-09.

Currently, Codex Alimentarius MRLs^{Footnote 2} have not been established for acetamiprid on any commodities. A listing of all established Codex MRLs is available on the Codex Alimentarius  Pesticide Residues in Food website.

Table 2 - Comparison of Canadian MRLs and American Tolerances (where different)

Food Commodity	Canadian MRL (ppm)	American Tolerance (ppm)
Caneberries (Crop Subgroup 13-07A)	4.0	1.6
Green Onions (Crop Subgroup 3-07B)	3.0	4.5
Stone Fruits (Crop Group 12-09)	1.2	1.2 (Fruit, stone, group 12, except plum, prune)
		0.4 (Plum, prune, dried)
		0.2 (Plum, prune, fresh)

Next Steps

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