Proposed Maximum Residue Limit PMRL2013-15, Glufosinate-ammonium

Pest Management Regulatory Agency
09 April 2013
ISSN: 1925-0843 (PDF version)
Catalogue number: H113-24/2013-15E-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 cherries and highbush blueberries to the product labels of Ignite 15 SN Herbicide and Ignite 15 SN Herbicide and Crop Desiccant, containing technical grade glufosinate-ammonium, is acceptable. The specific uses approved in Canada are detailed on the labels of Ignite 15 SN Herbicide and Ignite 15 SN Herbicide and Crop Dessicant, Pest Control Products Act Registration Numbers 28532 and 23180, respectively.

The evaluation of these glufosinate-ammonium applications indicated that the end-use products have merit and value and the human health and environmental risks associated with the new uses are acceptable. Details regarding the registrations can be found in the corresponding Evaluation Reports 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 glufosinate-ammonium 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 glufosinate-ammonium in Canada in or on food, to be added to the MRLs already legally established for glufosinate-ammonium, are as follows.

Table 1 - Proposed Maximum Residue Limits for Glufosinate-ammonium

Common Name	Residue Definition	MRL (Table 1 footnote ppm)	Food Commodity
Footnotes Footnote 1 = parts per million Return to table 1 footnote ppm referrer
Glufosinate-ammonium	ammonium(±)-2-amino-4-(hydroxymethylphosphinyl)butanoate, including the metabolite propanoic acid, 3-(hydroxymethylphosphinyl)	0.2	Stone fruits (Crop Group 12-09)
		0.1	Bushberries (Crop Subgroup 13-07B)

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

MRLs established in Canada may be found using the  Maximum Residue Limit Database on the Maximum Residue Limits for Pesticides webpage. The database allows users to search for pesticide(s) or for food commodity(ies).

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 glufosinate-ammonium in Canada with corresponding American tolerances and Codex MRLs. American tolerances are listed in the  Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 40 CFR Part 180, by pesticide. A listing of established Codex MRLs is available on the Codex Alimentarius  Pesticide Residues in Food website, by pesticide or commodity.

Table 2 - Comparison of Canadian MRLs, American Tolerances and Codex MRLs

Food Commodity	Canadian MRL (ppm)	American Tolerance (ppm)	Codex MRL (ppm)
Stone fruits (Crop Group 12-09)	0.2	0.25 (Fruit, Stone, Group 12-12)	0.05
Blueberries, currants, elderberries, gooseberries, huckleberries	0.1	0.15 (Bushberry subgroup 13B)	0.1 (Berries and other small fruits, except currants)
			0.5 (Currants, Black, Red, White)
Lingonberries, salal berries, Saskatoon berries (juneberries)	0.1	0.1	0.1 (Berries and other small fruits, except currants)
Aronia berries, Chilean guavas, European barberries, highbush cranberries, honeysuckle, jostaberries, sea buckthorn	0.1	Not established	0.1 (Berries and other small fruits, except currants)

Next Steps

The PMRA invites the public to submit written comments on the proposed MRLs for glufosinate-ammonium 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. Comments received will be addressed in a separate document linked to this PMRL. The established MRLs will be legally in effect as of the date that they are entered into the  Maximum Residue Limit Database.