Recommendation of the EFTA Surveillance Authority

No 67/00/COL

of 24 March 2000

concerning a coordinated monitoring programme for 2000 to ensure compliance with maximum levels of pesticide residues in and on cereals and certain products of plant origin, including fruit and vegetables

THE EFTA SURVEILLANCE AUTHORITY,

Having regard to the EEA Agreement, and in particular Article 109 and Protocol 1 thereto,

Having regard to the Surveillance and Court Agreement, and in particular Article 5(2)(b) and Protocol 1 thereto,

Having regard to the Act referred to in point 38 of Chapter XII of Annex II to the EEA Agreement on the fixing of maximum levels for pesticide residues in and on cereals (Council Directive 86/362/EEC)(1) and in particular Article 7(2)(b) thereof,

Having regard to the Act referred to in point 54 of Chapter XII of Annex II to the EEA Agreement on the fixing of maximum levels for pesticide residues in and on certain products of plant origin, including fruit and vegetables (Council Directive 90/642/EEC)(2), and in particular Article 4(2)(b) thereof,

After consulting the EFTA Foodstuffs Committee assisting the EFTA Surveillance Authority,

Whereas Article 7(2)(b) of Directive 86/362 and Article 4(2)(b) of Directive 90/642 require the EFTA Surveillance Authority to submit to the EFTA Foodstuffs Committee assisting the EFTA Surveillance Authority by 31 December each year a recommendation to the EFTA States setting out a coordinated monitoring programme to ensure compliance with maximum levels of pesticide residues set out in the Annexes II to the said Directive;

Whereas the EFTA Surveillance Authority should recommend a monitoring programme each year; whereas experience, gained by the European Commission and its Member States in establishing, carrying out and reporting on the previous annual coordinated monitoring programmes, indicates that multiannual programmes appear to be most effective and practical; whereas it appears appropriate to indicate in this recommendation the framework of future programmes;

Whereas the EFTA Surveillance Authority should progressively work towards a system which would permit the estimation of actual pesticide dietary exposure, as provided for in the second paragraph of Article 7(3) of Directive 86/362 and the second paragraph of Article 4(3) of Directive 90/642; whereas to facilitate examination of the feasibility of such estimations, data concerning the monitoring of residues of pesticides in a number of food products which constitute major components of European diets should be available; whereas in view of the resources available at national level for pesticide residue monitoring, the EFTA States are only able to analyse samples of four to five products each year within a coordinated monitoring programme; whereas each pesticide should generally be monitored in 20 food products over a series of five-year cycles;

Whereas the residues recommended to be monitored in 2000 will allow examination of the feasibility of using the data concerning the pesticides acephate, the benomyl group, chlorpyriphos, iprodione and methamidophos as these compounds (identified as Group A in Annex I) have already been monitored between 1996 and 1999 for estimation of actual dietary exposure;

Whereas the residues recommended to be monitored in 2000 and 2001 will allow examination of the feasibility of using the data concerning the pesticides diazinon, metalaxyl, methidathion, thiabendazole and triazophos as these compounds (identified as Group B in Annex I) have already been monitored between 1997 and 1999 for estimation of actual dietary exposure;

Whereas the residues recommended to be monitored in 2000, 2001 and 2002 will allow examination of the feasibility of using the data concerning the pesticides chlorpyriphos-methyl, deltamethrin, endosulfan, imazilil, lambda-cyhalothrin, the maneb group, mecarbam, permethrin, pirimiphos-methyl and vicolozolin as these compounds (identified as Group C in Annex I) have already been monitored in 1998 and 1999 for estimation of actual dietary exposure;

Whereas a systematic statistical approach to numbers of samples to be taken in the specific coordinated exercise is necessary; whereas such an approach has been set out by the Commission of the Codex Alimentarius(3). Based on a binomial probability distribution it can be calculated that examination of a total sample number of 459 gives a 99 % confidence of detecting one sample containing pesticide residues above the limit of determination (LOD) if it is anticipated that 1 % of products of plant origin will contain residues above the LOD; whereas the total number of samples to be taken by each EFTA State should be apportioned on the basis of population and consumer numbers, with a minimum of 12 samples per product and per year;

Whereas draft guidelines concerning quality control procedures for pesticide residue analysis, published in Annex II(4) to the monitoring recommendation for 1999 have been discussed by the experts of the EU Member States at Oeiras, Portugal on 15 and 16 September 1997 and discussed and taken note of in the subgroup "Pesticide residues" of the Working Group on Plant Health on 20 and 21 November 1997; whereas it is agreed by the EU Member States that these draft guidelines should be implemented as far as possible by the analytical laboratories of the EU Member States and should be reviewed in the light of this experience;

Whereas Article 4(2)(a) of Directive 90/642 requires the EFTA States to specify the criteria applied in drawing up their national inspection programmes when sending to the EFTA Surveillance Authority information on their implementation during the previous year; whereas such information should include the criteria applied in determining the numbers of samples to be taken and analyses to be carried out and the reporting levels applied and the criteria by which the reporting levels have been fixed; whereas details of accreditation under the Act referred to in point 54n of Chapter XII of Annex II to the EEA Agreement on the subject of additional measures concerning the official control of foodstuffs (Council Directive 93/99/EEC)(5) of the laboratories carrying out analyses should be indicated;

Whereas information on the results of monitoring programmes is particularly appropriate for treatment, storage and transmission by electronic/informatic methods; whereas formats have been developed for supply in diskette form to the EU Member States by the Commission; whereas the same format could be used by the EFTA States; whereas the EFTA States should therefore be able to send their reports to the EFTA Surveillance Authority in the standard format; whereas the further development of such a standard format is most effectively undertaken by the development of guidelines;

Whereas Liechtenstein shall comply with the provisions of the acts referred to in Chapter XII of Annex II to the EEA Agreement by 1 January 2000; whereas therefore Liechtenstein is included in this recommendation for 2000,

HAS ADOPTED THIS RECOMMENDATION:

It is recommended that Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway:

1. sample and analyse for the product/pesticide residue combinations set out in Annex I, on the basis of a target number of 12 samples of each product, reflecting as appropriate, national, EEA and third country share of the EFTA State's market; for at least one pesticide possibly posing an acute risk, one of the products will be subjected to individual analysis of the items in the composite sample: two samples of an appropriate number of items will be taken, where possible the produce of a single producer; if in the first composite sample a detectable level of the pesticide is found, the items of the second sample will be analysed individually; in 2000 this will include the combination cucumbers/methamidophos and/or pears/chlormequat;

2. by 31 August 2001 report the results for the part of the specific exercise allocated for 2000 in Annex I, together with the analytical methods used and reporting levels achieved, in accordance with the quality control procedures set out in Annex II to the recommendation of the EFTA Surveillance Authority for the year 1999, in a format as set out in Annex III to that recommendation;

3. by 31 August 2000, send to the EFTA Surveillance Authority and to EEA/EFTA States all the information as required by Article 7(3) of Directive 86/362 and Article 4(3) of Directive 90/642 concerning the 1999 monitoring exercise, to ensure, at least by check sampling, compliance with maximum pesticide residue levels including:

3.1. - the results of their national programmes concerning pesticides listed in Annexes II to Directives 86/362 and 90/642, in relation to harmonised levels and, where these have not yet been fixed at Community level, in relation to the national levels in force,

3.2. - information on their laboratories' quality control procedures and, in particular, information concerning aspects of the guidelines concerning quality control procedures for pesticide residue analysis, which they have not been able to apply or have had difficulty in applying,

3.3. - information on accreditation in accordance with the provisions of Article 3 of Directive 93/99 (including type of accreditation, accreditation body and copy of accreditation certificate) of the laboratories carrying out the analyses.

4. This recommendation is addressed to Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

Done at Brussels, 24 March 2000.

For the EFTA Surveillance Authority

Hannes Hafstein

College Member

(1) Hereinafter referred to as Directive 86/362.

(2) Hereinafter referred to as Directive 90/642.

(3) Codex Alimentarius, Pesticide Residues in Foodstuffs, Rome 1994, ISBN 92-5-203271-1; Vol. 2, p. 372.

(4) EFTA Surveillance Authority, Doc. No 99-899-D.

(5) Hereinafter referred to as Directive 93/99.

ANNEX I

Pesticide/product combinations to be monitored in the specific exercise set out in point 1 of the recommendation

>TABLE>

(a) Rice (husked or polished), cucumber, head cabbage, peas (frozen or fresh, analysed without pods).

(b) Apples, barley, tomatoes, lettuce.

(c) Pears, bananas, beans (fresh or frozen), potatoes.

(d) Carrots, oranges, peaches, spinach.