Pest Management Regulatory Agency
30 June 2011
ISSN: 1925-0843 (PDF version)
Catalogue number: H113-24/2011-27E-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 lambda-cyhalothrin in or on various commodities to permit the import and sale of foods containing such residues.

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

The PMRA has determined the quantity of residues that are likely to remain in or on the imported food commodities when lambda-cyhalothrin 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 proposed import MRLs can be found in the corresponding Evaluation Report available in the Pesticides and Pest Management section portion of Health Canada's website, under Public Registry, Pesticide Product Information Database.^{Footnote 1}

Consultation on the proposed MRLs for lambda-cyhalothrin 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 lambda-cyhalothrin 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 Lambda-Cyhalothrin

Common Name	Residue Definition	MRL (ppm)	Food Commodity
Table Footnotes Footnote 1 Proposed to replace the 0.2 ppm MRL established for stone fruits (Crop Group 12) and include all commodities in the expanded crop group. Return to footnote 1 referrer Footnote 2 Proposed to replace the 0.1ppm MRLs established for Brussels sprouts and cauliflower and extend the 0.4 ppm MRL established for broccoli and cabbages to all crop subgroup commodities. Return to footnote 2 referrer Footnote 3 Proposed to replace the MRLs established for apples (0.07 ppm) and pears (0.01 ppm) and include all commodities in the expanded crop group. Return to footnote 3 referrer Footnote 4 Proposed to replace the 0.1 ppm MRL established for tomatoes and include all commodities in the expanded crop group. Return to footnote 4 referrer Footnote 5 Proposed to replace the MRLs established for barley (0.01 ppm) and wheat (0.03 ppm) and extend the 0.05 ppm MRL established for corn (field, pop and sweet) to all crop group commodities, except rice, sorghum and wild rice for which distinct MRLs are proposed. Return to footnote 5 referrer Footnote 6 Proposed to replace the 0.01 ppm MRL established for potatoes and sweet potato roots and include all crop subgroup commodities. Return to footnote 6 referrer
Lambda-cyhalothrin	(S)-a-cyano-3-phenoxybenzyl (Z)-(1R,3R)-3-(2-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoroprop-1-enyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropanecarboxylate and (R)-a-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)-a-cyano-3-phenoxybenzyl (Z)-(1R,3R)-3-(2-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoroprop-1-enyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropanecarboxylate and (S)-a-cyano-3-phenoxybenzyl (Z)-(1S,3S)-3-(2-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoroprop-1-enyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropanecarboxylate	2.0	Tea, dried leaves
		1.0	Rice, wild rice
		0.5	Stone fruits (Crop Group 12-09),Footnote 1 olives
		0.4	Head and stem Brassica (Crop Subgroup 5A, except broccoli and cabbages)Footnote 2
		0.3	Pome fruits (Crop Group 11-09)Footnote 3
		0.2	Fruiting vegetables (Crop Group 8-09),Footnote 4 avocados, barley bran, grapes, oranges, rye bran, Satsuma mandarins, sorghum, wheat bran
		0.05	Cucurbit vegetables (Crop Group 9), tree nuts (Crop Group 14), cereal grains (Crop Group 15; except corn, rice, sorghum and wild rice),Footnote 5 peanuts, pistachios, sugarcane, undelinted cotton seeds
		0.02	Tuberous and corm vegetables (Crop Subgroup 1C)Footnote 6

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

A complete list of all pesticide 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

Table 2 compares the MRLs proposed for lambda-cyhalothrin in Canada with corresponding American tolerances and Codex Alimentarius MRLs.^{Footnote 2}

American tolerances are listed in the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 40 CFR Part 180, by pesticide. Note that MRLs proposed in Canada for fruiting vegetables, pome fruits and stone fruits are consistent with tolerances established in the United States, but will result in MRLs for commodities without corresponding American tolerances as they apply to the expanded crop groupings.

Codex MRLs have been established for a limited number of commodities covered under this MRL action in accordance with Table 2. 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)
Tea, dried leaves	2.0	Not established	Not established
Rice, wild rice	1.0	1.0	Not established
Stone fruits (Crop Group 12-09)	0.5	0.5 (Fruit, stone, group 12 only)	Not established
Olives	0.5	Not established	Not established
Pome fruits (Crop Group 11-09)	0.3	0.3 (Fruit, pome, group 11 only)	0.2
Fruiting vegetables (Crop Group 8-09)	0.2	0.2 (Vegetable, fruiting, group 8 only)	Not established
Avocados, barley bran, rye bran, sorghum, wheat bran	0.2	0.2	Not established
Grapes, oranges, Satsuma mandarins	0.2	Not established	Not established
Cucurbit vegetables (Crop Group 9), tree nuts (Crop Group 14), cereal grains (Crop Group 15; except corn, rice, sorghum and wild rice), peanuts, pistachios, sugarcane	0.05	0.05	Not established
Undelinted cotton seeds	0.05	0.05	0.02
Tuberous and corm vegetables (Crop Subgroup 1C)	0.02	0.02	0.02 (Potatoes only)

Next Steps

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