In accordance with Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 396/2005, the applicant BASF SE submitted two requests to the competent national authority in Germany. The first one, to modify the existing maximum residue levels (MRL) for the active substance pyraclostrobin in various crops and to set import tolerances for sugar canes and American persimmons; the second one to set import tolerances for pineapples and passion fruits/maracujas. The data submitted in support of the requests were found to be sufficient to derive MRL proposals for mandarins, grapefruits, lemons, limes, passion fruits/maracujas, pineapples, flowering brassica, head cabbages, lamb's lettuce, cresses and other sprouts, land cresses, rucola, red mustards, baby leaf crops, globe artichokes and leeks. For oranges, American persimmons, spinaches and similar leaves and sugar canes, data gaps were identified which precluded the derivation of MRL proposals. The data submitted did not provide evidence that the existing MRLs for crops belonging to the group of lettuces and maize have to be modified to accommodate for the intended uses. For escaroles, no MRL was proposed as the intended use was found to lead to residues for which a potential consumer health risk cannot be excluded. EFSA concluded that the short-term intake of residues resulting from the uses of pyraclostrobin according to the reported agricultural practices assessed is unlikely to present a risk to consumer health, except for escaroles, where the expected intake was found to exceed the toxicological reference value. Taking into account the existing and the proposed new MRLs, a long-term intake concern for consumers was not identified.
Keywords: MRL; consumer risk assessment; import tolerance; pesticide; pyraclostrobin; various crops.
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