G/TBT/W/655  
 
18 July 2019  
(19-4776) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
EUROPEAN UNION - CHLOROTHALONIL (PESTICI DE ACTIVE SUBSTANCE)  
STATEMENT BY THE EUR OPEAN UNION TO THE C OMMITTEE ON TECHNICA L BARRIERS TO TRADE  
20 AND 21 JUNE 2019  
The following communication, dated 17 July 2019, is being circulated at the request of the delegation 
of the European Union . 
 
_______________  
 
 
1.  The European Union thanks WTO Members for raising this issue.  
2.  As explained at the TBT Committee meeting last March, the European Union proposed not to 
renew the approval of chlorothalonil and notified third countries of the draft Regulation via the TBT 
procedure. The measure did not lead to immediate disruptions in trade, as it does not amend the 
maximum residue levels (MRLs) and provides for a grace period.  
3.  The possibility for granting transitional measures will be considered when proposing any changes 
to existing MRLs, which will not take place before expiry of the grace period. Furthermore, it is 
important to reiterate that any action to reduce MRLs  in the future will be subject to a separate 
notification under the WTO/SPS procedure.  
4.  As previously explained, Chlorothalonil was evaluated in accordance with Regulation (EC) 
No. 1107/2009 on the placing of plant protection products on the market1. The c onclusion2 by the 
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on chlorothalonil, following assessment by the rapporteur 
Member State and an extensive peer review process, was published in January 2018. During this 
peer review process, it has not been established  with respect to one or more representative uses of 
at least one plant protection product that the approval criteria provided for in Article 4 of Regulation 
(EC) No . 1107/2009 are satisfied.  
5.  During the assessment:  
• a critical concern was identified by the Authority in relation to the contamination of 
groundwater by certain metabolites of chlorothalonil3, 
• the Authority could not exclude a genotoxicity concern for residues to which consumers 
will be exposed and identified a high risk to amphibians and fish fo r all the uses evaluated,  
• several areas of the risk assessment could not be finalised due to insufficient data in the 
dossier, and  
                                                
1 http://eur -lex.europa.eu/legal -content/EN/TXT/?qid=1489747880535&uri=CELEX:32009R1107  
2 EFSA 2018 Conclusion on the peer review of the pesticide risk assessment of the active substance 
chlorothalonil. EFSA Journal 2018;16(1):5126.  http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/51 26  
3 In particular, metabolites R417888, R419492, R471811, SYN507900, M3, M11, M2, M7 and M10 are 
predicted to occur above the parametric value of 0.1 μg/L in all pertinent scenarios for all proposed uses of 
chlorothalonil.  G/TBT/W/655  
 
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  • it was noted that chlorothalonil is classified as carcinogen category 2 in accordance with 
Regulation (EC) No . 1272/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council, while in 
the conclusion of the Authority it is indicated that chlorothalonil should be classified as 
carcinogen category 1B.  
6.  In light of the above, the European Union proposed not to renew the approval of chlorot halonil 
in accordance with Article 20(1)(b) of that Regulation. On 29 April 2019, the Commission adopted 
Implementing Regulation (EU) No . 2019/6774 concerning the non -renewal of the approval of the 
active substance chlorothalonil. The grace period shall expire by 20 May 2020, at the latest.  
7.  Import tolerance requests however remain possible and will be assessed on a case -by-case basis 
by the rapporteu r Member State and EFSA. Such requests would have to be supported by substantial 
new data addressing the concerns.  
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4 OJ L 114, 30.4.2019, p. 15.