EU: Fosetyl Update

According to the Almond Board of California (ABC), the research that was needed to submit a dossier to the European Commission for a permanent MRL for Fosetyl-Al has been completed.The full dossier has been submitted to France (the country that will review the submission) and the European Commission has confirmed the submission.ABC has highlighted the following key points:

• The dossier was submitted for a tree nut grouping, i.e. the MRL will apply to almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pistachios, walnuts and other nuts, except for coconut.
• Based on the variability of the residue results within the field trials and the EU methodology for deriving MRLs, the dossier includes a recommendation for a permanent MRL, which is significantly higher than the current temporary MRL.
• After France completes its review, the dossier will be submitted to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for a review of the drafted risk assessment.
• EFSA will provide its opinion (including the recommended MRL) to the European Commission for inter-agency consultation and review.

It is expected that the new permanent fosetyl-Al MRL for the tree nut grouping will be in place on or before March 2019, which is when the current temporary MRL expires.Background: On 23 September 2014, the Official Journal of the European Union published the Commission Regulation No 991/2014 as regards maximum residue levels for fosetyl in or on certain products. The regulation set a temporary MRL of 75 mg/kg for almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pistachios and walnuts, stone fruits, blueberries and other commodities during a temporary period from 24 September 2014 until 31 December 2015.On January 2016, the European Commission published the Commission Regulation No 2016/75 extending the 75 mg/kg temporary MRLs until 1 March 2019. The extension avoided significant market disruption and allowed more time to complete residue trial data.