Commission Regulation (EC) No 1213/2008 of 5 December 2008 concerning a coordinated multiannual Community control programme for 2009, 2010 and 2011 to ensure compliance with maximum levels of and to assess the consumer exposure to pesticide residues in and on food of plant and animal origin (Text with EEA relevance)

6.12.2008 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 328/9
COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1213/2008
of 5 December 2008
concerning a coordinated multiannual Community control programme for 2009, 2010 and 2011 to ensure compliance with maximum levels of and to assess the consumer exposure to pesticide residues in and on food of plant and animal origin
(Text with EEA relevance)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 February 2005 on maximum residue levels of pesticides in or on food and feed of plant and animal origin and amending Council Directive 91/414/EEC (1), in particular Article 29 thereof,
Whereas:
(1) In accordance with Directives 76/895/EEC, 86/362/EEC, 86/363/EEC and 90/642/EEC the Commission adopted recommendations concerning a coordinated Community monitoring programme for pesticide residues in and on cereals and certain other products of plant origin. On 1 September 2008 those Directives were replaced by Regulation (EC) No 396/2005. Under that Regulation the Community control programme of pesticide residues is to cover food of animal origin in addition to food of plant origin and it is to take the form of a binding act. It should therefore be adopted as a Regulation. It should be without prejudice to Council Directive 96/23/EC of 29 April 1996 on measures to monitor certain substances and residues thereof in live animals and animal products and repealing Directives 85/358/EEC and 86/469/EEC and Decisions 89/187/EEC and 91/664/EEC (2).
(2) Thirty foodstuffs constitute the major components of the diet in the Community. Since pesticide uses show significant changes over a period of three years, pesticides should be monitored in those thirty foodstuffs over a series of three-year cycles to allow consumer exposure and the application of Community legislation to be assessed.
(3) On the basis of a binomial probability distribution, it can be calculated that examination of 642 samples allows, with a certainty of more than 99 %, the detection of a sample containing pesticide residues above the limit of determination (LOD), provided that not less than 1 % of the products contain residues above that limit. Collection of these samples should be apportioned among Member States according to population numbers, with a minimum of 12 samples per product and per year.
(4) Where the residue definition of a pesticide includes other active substances, metabolites or breakdown products, those metabolites should be reported separately.
(5) Guidance concerning ‘Method validation and quality control procedures for pesticide residue analysis in food and feed’ is published on the Commission website (3).
(6) For the sampling procedures Commission Directive 2002/63/EC of 11 July 2002 establishing Community methods of sampling for the official control of pesticide residues in and on products of plant and animal origin and repealing Directive 79/700/EEC (4) which incorporates the sampling methods and procedures recommended by the Codex Alimentarius Commission should apply.
(7) It is also necessary to assess whether maximum residue levels for baby food established provided for in Article 10 of Commission Directive 2006/141/EC of 22 December 2006 on infant formulae and follow-on formulae and amending Directive 1999/21/EC (5) and Article 7 of Commission Directive 2006/125/EC of 5 December 2006 on processed cereal-based foods and baby foods for infants and young children (6) are respected.
(8) It is necessary to assess possible aggregate, cumulative and synergistic effects of pesticides. This assessment should start with some organophosphates, carbamates, triazoles and pyrethroides, as set out in Annex I.
(9) Member States should submit by 31 August of each year the information concerning the previous calendar year.
(10) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,