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The Codex Alimentarious Commission is an international agency whose main purpose is to protect the health of consumers and to ensure fair trade practices in the food trade. It was created in 1963 by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and by the World Health Organization (WHO). Codex establishes maximum residue levels (MRLs), called tolerances in the United States, which specify the maximum level of a pesticide residue that can be present on the crop. Because of the extensive review of toxicology and residue data that occurs before a Codex MRL can be established, many countries around the world rely on Codex MRLs if they have not established their own MRLs. Thus, Codex tolerances are used to regulate residues in many countries that do not establish their own tolerances or for development of import tolerances.
Codex and the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA). FQPA requires EPA to consider Codex tolerances when the EPA is reassessing tolerances, and to publish a notice for public comment whenever it proposes a tolerance that is different from an accepted Codex MRL. In its most recent review, EPA did proposed some tolerances that were different from the accepted Codex values to take into account U.S.-specific use patterns, but accepted many others, thus enabling U.S. producers to export using established use patterns.
Extensive Study Results In EBDC MRL List Being Further Expanded. EBDC Codex MRLs have been established for many years. The list of MRLs was greatly expanded when the 1999 Codex Alimentarius meeting agreed that over 35 new MRLs could be established based on toxicological and residue evaluations of the EBDCs and ETU by the WHO and the FAO during Joint Meeting of Pesticide Reviews (JMPR) meetings in 1993 and 1995. In reaching this conclusion, the Codex reviewed a risk assessment and concluded that dietary residues of EBDCs comprised no more than 37% of the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI).
Because of the extensive review and the large number of Codex MRLs, users can feel confident that food treated with EBDCs in accordance with label requirements can be traded internationally without having violative residues.
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