Proposed Maximum Residue Limit PMRL2013-35, Fluazifop-butyl

Pest Management Regulatory Agency
25 June 2013
ISSN: 1925-0843 (PDF version)
Catalogue number: H113-24/2013-35E-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 fluazifop-butyl on various commodities to permit the import and sale of foods containing such residues.

Fluazifop-p-butyl is an herbicide currently registered for use in Canada on a number of fruit, legume, oilseed and vegetable commodities.

The PMRA has determined the quantity of residues that are likely to remain in or on the imported food commodities when fluazifop-p-butyl 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 available in the Pesticides and Pest Management section of Health Canada’s website, under Public Registry, Pesticide Product Information Database.^{Footnote 1}

In Canada, residues of the resolved (R)-isomer, fluazifop-p-butyl, are covered by MRLs established for fluazifop-butyl, the unresolved isomeric mixture. Consultation on the proposed MRLs for fluazifop-butyl 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 in Canada in or on food, to be added to the MRLs already legally established for fluazifop-butyl, are as follows.

Table 1 - Proposed Maximum Residue Limits for Fluazifop-butyl

Common Name	Residue Definition	MRL  (ppmTable 1 footnote 1)	Food Commodity
Table 1 footnotes Table 1 footnote 1 ppm = parts per million Return to table 1 footnote 1 referrer
Fluazifop-butyl	butyl (RS)-2-[4-[[5-(trifluoromethyl)-2-pyridinyl]oxy]phenoxy] propanoate (calculated as acid)	3.0	Asparagus
		2.0	Carrot roots
		1.5	Peanuts
		1.0	Non-bell peppers
		0.5	Dry bulb onions, rhubarb, sweet potato roots
		0.2	Cotton seed oil
		0.1	Coffee beans, macadamia nuts, undelinted cotton seeds
		0.05	Pecan nuts

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

The MRLs proposed for fluazifop-butyl in Canada are consistent with the corresponding tolerances for fluazifop-p-butyl established in the United States, except for cotton seed oil as per Table 2 (tolerances are listed in the  Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 40 CFR Part 180).

Currently, there are no Codex MRLs^{Footnote 2}listed for fluazifop-butyl or fluazifop-p-butyl in or on any commodity on the Codex Alimentarius Pesticide Residues in Food webpage.

Table 2 - Comparison of Canadian MRLs and American Tolerances (where different)

Food Commodity	Canadian MRL (ppm)	American Tolerance (ppm)
Cotton seed oil	0.2	1.3 ("Cotton, refined oil")

Next Steps

The PMRA invites the public to submit written comments on the proposed MRLs for fluazifop-butyl 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 they are entered into the Maximum Residue Limit Database.