Ms. Stella Kyriakides

Despite the obligations set out in the Pesticide Regulation, your services at the Directorate–General for Health and Food Safety (‘DG SANTE’) continue to allow residues of these substances in imported food after they have been banned in the EU. [...] Six of these substances are no longer approved in the EU for several years, but for five of them the Commission has presented proposals to Member States to maintain MRLs higher than the default value or relevant LOQ in certain food products. [...] To ensure the high level of protection of consumer health required by the MRLs Regulation and the Pesticide Regulation, we urge the Commission to: 1. [...] Lower the MRLs to the default value of 0.01 mg/kg or to the relevant LOQ the MRLs of all food products for all reprotoxic substances no longer approved in the EU. [...] Swiftly ban substances classified, in accordance with the provisions in Regulation 1272/2008, as toxic to reproduction category 1B in accordance with point 3.6.4 of Annex II of the Pesticide Regulation.