Pest Management Regulatory Agency
27 September 2011
ISSN: 1925-0843 (PDF version)
Cat. No.: H113-24/H113-24/2011-34E-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 ethofumesate on carrots, dry bulb onions, garden beets, garlic, shallots and sugar beets to permit the import and sale of foods containing such residues.

Ethofumesate is an herbicide currently registered in Canada for use on sugar beets.

The PMRA has determined the quantity of residues that are likely to remain in or on the imported food commodities when ethofumesate 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 Health Canada's website, under Public Registry, Pesticide Product Information Database.^{Footnote 1}

Consultation on the proposed MRLs for ethofumesate 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 ethofumesate in Canada in or on food are as follows.

Table 1 - Proposed Maximum Residue Limits for Ethofumesate.

Common Name	Residue Definition	MRL (ppm)	Food Commodity
Ethofumesate	(±)-2-ethoxy-2,3-dihydro-3,3-dimethyl-5-benzofuranyl methanesulfonate, including the metabolites 2(3H)-benzofuranone, 3,3-dimethyl-5-[(methylsulfonyl)oxy]- and benzeneacetic acid, 2-hydroxy-a,a-dimethyl-5-[(methylsulfonyl)oxy]-	7.0	Carrot roots
		5.0	Garden beet tops
		0.5	Garden beet roots, sugar beet molasses
		0.3	Sugar beet roots
		0.25	Dry bulb onions, garlic, shallot bulbs

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

The proposed MRLs for ethofumesate in Canada are the same as corresponding tolerances established in the United States (tolerances are listed in the  Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 40 CFR Part 180, by pesticide). However, a separate 0.2 ppm American tolerance is established for "Beet, sugar, refined sugar" which would be covered in Canada by the 0.3 ppm MRL proposed for the raw agricultural commodity, sugar beet roots.

Codex MRLs^{Footnote 2} are not listed for ethofumesate in or on any commodity on the Codex Alimentarius Pesticide Residues in Food webpage.

Next Steps

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