Proposed Maximum Residue Limit PMRL2013-22, Metalaxyl

Pest Management Regulatory Agency
23 April 2013
ISSN: 1925-0843 (PDF version)
Catalogue number: H113-24/2013-22E-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 head and stem Brassica commodities (Crop Subgroup 5A) and fruiting vegetables (Crop Group 8-09) to the product label of Apron XL LS Fungicide, containing technical grade metalaxyl-M, is acceptable. The specific uses approved in Canada are detailed on the label of Apron XL LS Fungicide, Pest Control Products Act Registration Number 25585.

The evaluation of this metalaxyl-M application indicated that the end-use product has merit and value and 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.

Residues of the resolved isomer metalaxyl-M are covered by MRLs established for metalaxyl, the unresolved isomeric mixture. Consultation on the proposed MRLs for metalaxyl is being conducted via this document (see Next Steps).

Metalaxyl MRLs are currently established at 2.0 ppm for broccoli, cabbages and cauliflowers and at 1.0 ppm for peppers and tomatoes. This action proposes to extend the existing MRLs to all commodities in the respective crop groupings.

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 metalaxyl in Canada in or on food, to be added to or replace the MRLs already legally established, are as follows.

Table 1 - Proposed Maximum Residue Limits for Metalaxyl

Common Name	Residue Definition	MRL (ppm)	Food Commodity
ppm = parts per million Table 1 footnotes Table 1 footnote 1 Tomatoes are excluded as a 1.0 ppm MRL is already established for the commodity in Canada. An MRL of 1.0 ppm is also currently established for "peppers". This action does not impact the existing MRL but replaces the "peppers" MRL with commodity descriptors reflecting the current terminology for pepper varieties. Return to table 1 footnote a referrer
Metalaxyl	N-(2,6-dimethylphenyl)-N-(methoxyacetyl)- DL-alanine methyl ester, including metabolites that can be converted to the 2,6-dimethylaniline moiety, each expressed as metalaxyl equivalents	2.0	Brussels sprouts, Chinese broccoli, Napa Chinese cabbages, Chinese mustard cabbages, kohlrabi
		1.0	Fruiting vegetables (Crop Group 8-09, except tomatoes)Table 1 footnote a

MRLs are proposed for each commodity included in the fruiting vegetables crop group 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 metalaxyl in Canada with the corresponding American tolerances and Codex MRLs.^{Footnote 2}

American tolerances are listed in the  Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 40 CFR Part 180, by pesticide. Note that the fruiting vegetable tolerance established in the United States is for Crop Group 8, which represents a subset of Crop Group 8-09 commodities in accordance with Update on the Status of the Revisions to the Residue Chemistry Crop Groups (DIR2010-01).

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)
Brussels sprouts	2.0	2.0	0.2
Chinese broccoli, Napa Chinese cabbages, Chinese mustard cabbages, kohlrabi	2.0	0.1 ("Vegetable, brassica, leafy, group 5, except broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and mustard greens")	Not Established
Fruiting vegetables (Crop Group 8-09, except tomatoes)	1.0	1.0 ("Vegetable, fruiting, group 8")	1.0 ("Peppers") 10 ("Peppers, Chili dried")

Next Steps

The PMRA invites the public to submit written comments on the proposed MRLs for metalaxyl 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.