G/SPS/GEN/1586  
30 October  2017 
(17-5873) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original:  Spanish  
 
  
COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) 2017/1164 OF 22 JUNE 2017 AMENDING ANNEXES II 
AND III TO REGULATION (EC) NO 396/2005 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  
AND OF THE COUNCIL AS REGARDS MAXIMUM RESIDUE LEVELS  
FOR ACRINATHRIN, METALAXYL AND THIABENDAZOLE  
IN OR ON CERTAIN PRODUCTS  
COMMUNICATION FROM PERU  
The following communication, dated 2 7 October  2017, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Peru. 
 
_______________  
 
 
1.  Peru would like to ex press before WTO Members its trade concern regarding Commission 
Regulation (EU) 2017/1164 of 2 2 June 2017 amending Annexes II and III to Regulation (EC) 
No 396/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards maximum residue levels 
for Metalax yl and T hiabendazole on or in certain food products of animal origin and certain 
products of plant origin, including fruit and vegetables, that would  affect trade in our products . The 
Regulation in question is to enter into force on 2 1 January  2018. 
2.  In the  case of T hiabendazol e, the Regulation establishes limits that are more trade -restrictive 
than required , especially for  mangos, where the lim it has been reduced from  5 to 0.01 mg/ kg. This 
new limit is below  the limit established by the Codex Alimentarius1, and would have a significant 
impact on trade in that product.  
3.  As of July 2017, Peruvian mango exports exceeded US$137  million  and were shipped to some  
35 destination markets . This meant  exports from approximately 172 companies . In 2016, mango 
exports exce eded US$200  million , of which 62 % were shipped to the EU market . We recall that in 
2016, the seven leading destinations for mangos were Holland, the United States, 
the United  Kingdom, Spain, France, Canada and Germany . Thus, Peru's mango exports to the 
European  market could be adversely affected, with resulting economic damage.2 
4.  In Peru, T hiabendazol e is used as a post -harvest chemical chiefly to protect the fruit from 
fungal diseases, in particular anthracnose3, and helps to keep  the level of discards low , 
guaranteeing a shelf life as far as the consumer . It is also occasionally used as a pre -harvest 
chemical (during flowering, against Oidium mangiferae  Berthet4). 
                                                
1 2003 saw the adoption by the Codex Alimentarius  Commission of a maximum residue limit (MRL) for 
Thiabendazole of 5 mg/kg for mangos after harvest.  
2 Information obtained from Trade Map.  
3 Disease caused by the Colletotrichum gloeosporioides  fungus (the main cause of anthracnose in 
mangos). Anthracnose is the most common disease affecting mangos produced in humid areas. For further 
information, see: 
http://www.mango.org/Mangos/media/Media/Documents/Research%20And%20Resources/Research/Industry/
Post-Harvest/Anthracnose_Mangos_Final_Report_Spn.pdf . 
4 Also known as powdery mildew, this is a fungal disease. The causative agent of this disease is not  a 
single species of fungus – rather, it tends to involve specific fungi for each plant species or group of 
phylogenetically close species. In the case of mangos, the causative agent of the disease is Oidium mangiferae 
Berthet  (Institute for Agricultural a nd Fisheries Research and Training, Spain).  G/SPS/GEN/1586  
- 2 - 
  5.  Peru considers the European Regulation to be contrary to the WTO Agreement on the 
Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) . It appears to infringe 
Article  2 of the SPS Agreement, because although Members have the right to apply such 
SPS measures as they consider appropriate for their level of protection, those measures mus t be 
based on scientific principles . Peru ask s the European Union to provide scientific justification for 
adopting more restrictive measures than those established in the Codex , which provided a 
scientific basis for introducing the current limits.  
6.  Moreover , the European Regulation is inconsistent with Article 5 of the SPS Agreement, which 
states that the analysis of risk shall take into account the objective of minimizing negative trade 
effects  and that the measures a dopted should not be more trade -restrict ive than required . 
However, the reduction in these MRLs and the lack of any clarity as to  alternative substances make 
it difficult for the exporter to comply with the new European Regulation, which consequently has a 
negative impact on trade in that produc t. We note in this respect that although the R egulation 
enters into force on 21  January  2018, the 2017 -2018 Peruvian mango season would  be affected.  
7.  The chart below shows the growth in Peruvian mango exports to the world and to the 
European  Union during th e period 2012 -2016.  
 
 
 Source : Trade Map.  
 Prepared by : MINCETUR/DRTCE . 
8.  For the above reasons, Peru requests that the European Union reconsider Commission 
Regulation (EU) 2017/1164 on the basis of existing scientific evidence, particularly as to the 
proposed reduction in MRLs for substances such as Thiabendazole, since its  application could 
adversely affect exports of products of interest such as mangos.  
__________  
0.00 50,000.00 100,000.00 150,000.00 200,000.00 250,000.00 300,000.002012201320142015201620182019
FOB  value in US$YearPERUVIAN MANGO EXPORTS 2012 -2016
(US$ thousands) 
Exports to the EU Exports to the world