. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/USA/1675 
10 August 2007  
 (07-3385) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  UNITED STATES
  
If applicable, name of lo cal government involved:    
2. Agency responsible:  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item numb er(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):  Various 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable :  Any 
US trade partners 
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:  Explanatory Document to 
the September 2005 Draft North American Fr ee Trade Agreement Standard Operating 
Procedure for Determining Pesticide Maximum Residue Limits; Notice of Availability (available in English, 2 pages) 
6. Description of content:  EPA is seeking public comment on the document entitled Statistical 
Basis of the NAFTA Me thod for Calculating Pesticide Ma ximum Residue Li mits from Field 
Trial Data available at http://www.pmra-arla.gc.ca/english/ pdf/nafta/docs/nafta_mrls-e.pdf .  
Although Canada's Management Regulatory Agen cy (PMRA) is also accepting comments, 
EPA and PMRA will be jointly responding to comments submitted to either agency.  The document was prepared by the NAFTA MRL Harmonization Worki ng Group (a group 
comprised of United St ates and Canadian governments, cr eated to develop a coordinated 
pesticides regulatory framework among Nort h American Free Trad e Agreement (NAFTA) 
partners).  The document provides additiona l technical and explanatory material for a 
standard operating procedure (SOP) previously  released by Canada's PMRA for public 
comment in September 2005.  The document curr ently open for public comment supports the 
September 2005 draft SOP that is intended for use by residue chemistry reviewers in the 
United States and Canada to ensure that the sa me or similar residue ch emistry data sets will 
result in the same or similar recommendation for maximum residue limit (MRL) levels for 
pesticide residues on food and feed commodities by each agency.  The goal for this method is 
to minimize trade barriers of pesticide trea ted commodities between the United States and 
Canada.  
7. Objective and rationale:  [ X ] food safety, [   ] animal health,  [ X ] plant protection, 
[ X ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease,  [   ] protect territory from other damage from pests    G/SPS/N/USA/1675 
Page 2  
 
  8. International standard, guideline or recommendation:  
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission, [   ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [   ] International Plant Protection Convention, [ X ] None  
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:    
9. Relevant documents and language (s) in which these are available:   F e d e r a l  R e g i s t e r :  
1 August 2007 (Volume 72, Number 147) Notices Page 42081-42082; 
http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA -PEST/2007/August/Day-01/p14889.htm  
10. Proposed date of adoption:  N/A 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  This is a notice of availability and may or may not result 
in a future regulatory action. 
12. Final date for comments:  Comments must be received on or before 31 August 2007, and 
may be identified by docket number EPA-HQ-OPP-2007-0632.  
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [   ] National notification 
authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, or  address, fax number and E-mail address (if 
available) of other body:  Registration Division, (7505P), Of fice of Pesticide Programs, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Penns ylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460  
13. Texts available from:  [ X ] National notificati on authority, [   ] Na tional enquiry point, 
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if ava ilable) of other body:  United States 
SPS National Notification Authority, USDA Fore ign Agricultural Service, International 
Regulations and Standards Division (IRSD), Stop 1027, Washington, D.C. 20250;  Tel:  +(1 
202) 720 1301;  Fax:  +(1 (202) 690 0677;  E-mail:  us.spse nquirypoint@fas.usda.gov