Proposed Maximum Residue Limit PMRL2013-23, Clothianidin

Pest Management Regulatory Agency
23 April 2013
ISSN: 1925-0843 (PDF version)
Catalogue number: H113-24/2013-23E-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 mustard seeds (oilseed and condiment types) to the product label of Prosper FX Flowable Insecticide and Fungicide Seed Treatment, containing technical grade clothianidin, carbathiin, metalaxyl and trifloxystrobin, is acceptable. The specific uses approved in Canada are detailed on the label of Prosper FX, Pest Control Products Act Registration Number 29159.

The evaluation of this 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.

Consultation on the proposed MRLs for clothianidin is being conducted via this document (see Next Steps). MRL consultation for the remaining pesticides in Prosper FX Flowable Insecticide and Fungicide Seed Treatment is being conducted under separate actions.

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

Table 1 - Proposed Maximum Residue Limits for Clothianidin

Common Name	Residue Definition	MRL (ppm)	Food Commodity
ppm = parts per million Table 1 footnotes Table 1 footnote 1 An MRL of 0.01 ppm is currently established for residues of clothianidin in/on rapeseeds (canola). This action proposes to extend the same MRL to the remaining food commodities in Crop Subgroup 20A. Return to table 1 footnote a referrer
Clothianidin	[C(E)]-N-[(2-chloro-5-thiazolyl)methyl]-N'-methyl-N"-nitroguanidine	0.01	Rapeseed Subgroup (Crop Subgroup 20A)Table 1 footnote a, mustard seeds (condiment type)

MRLs are proposed for each food commodity included in the rapeseed subgroup 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.

The MRLs proposed for clothianidin in Canada are consistent with corresponding tolerances established in the United States; however, the American tolerances are limited to canola seed and mustard seed only. The proposed Canadian oilseed MRL differs from the Codex MRL^{Footnote 2} in accordance with Table 2.

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)
Rapeseed Subgroup (Crop Subgroup 20A)	0.01	0.01 (Canola seed and Mustard seed)	0.02 (Oilseed)
Mustard seeds (condiment type)	0.01	0.01 (Mustard seed)	Not established

Next Steps

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