Proposed Maximum Residue Limit PMRL2012-15, Glyphosate

Notice to the reader: The online consultation is now closed. Comments and suggestions received during the public consultation period are being considered in the finalization of this document. The final report will be made available as soon as possible.

Pest Management Regulatory Agency
16 May 2012
ISSN: 1925-0843 (PDF version)
Catalogue number: H113-24/2012-15E-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 glyphosate tolerant canola to the product label of Touchdown Total Herbicide, containing technical grade glyphosate present as the potassium salt, is acceptable. The specific uses approved in Canada are detailed on the label of Touchdown Total Herbicide, Pest Control Products Act Registration Number 28072.

The evaluation of this glyphosate 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 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 MRL for glyphosate 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 MRL is also being conducted internationally by notifying the  World Trade Organization, as coordinated by the  Standards Council of Canada.

The proposed MRL in Canada in or on food, to replace the MRL already established for glyphosate, is as follows.

Table 1 - Proposed Maximum Residue Limit for Glyphosate

Common Name	Residue Definition	MRL Table 1 footnote (ppm)	Food Commodity
Table 1 footnotes Table 1 footnote 1 = parts per million Return to table 1 footnote ppm referrer Table 1 footnote 2 Proposed to replace both the established 10.0 ppm MRL and the current residue definition for rapeseeds (canola), which includes glyphosate and the metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid, in accordance with Table 1. Return to table 1 footnote a referrer
Glyphosate	N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine, including the metabolites aminomethylphosphonic acid, N-[(acetylamino)methyl]phosphonic acid and N-acetyl-N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine	20	Rapeseeds (canola)Table 1 footnote a

A complete list of all pesticide MRLs established in Canada, as of the date indicated, 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 MRL for glyphosate in Canada is the same as the corresponding American tolerance and Codex Alimentarius MRL.^{Footnote 2} American tolerances are listed in the
 Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 40 CFR Part 180, by pesticide. Codex MRLs are listed on the Codex Alimentarius  Pesticide Residues in Food website, by pesticide or commodity.

Next Steps

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