Threshold of Regulation Policy: Deciding Whether a Pesticide with a Food Use Pattern Needs a Tolerance

摘要

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is adopting a new policy regarding the use of pesticides on, in, or near food which do not result in residues that are detected in food. Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), tolerances are needed for pesticide residues in or on food if such residues are not to render the food adulterated and subject to seizure. EPA regulations specify that all needed FFDCA tolerances associated with a pesticide use must be established prior to approval of that use under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Ordinarily, EPA considers that a specific use of a pesticide chemical needs a tolerance if the pesticide is used in a manner which has a reasonable likelihood to produce residues in food. In practice, EPA presumes that a pesticide used on, in, or near growing crops, livestock or food has a reasonable likelihood of resulting in residues in or on food. EPA is adopting a policy that sets forth criteria for the Agency to consider in evaluating whether there is a need to establish a tolerance for a use of a pesticide where the use pattern of the pesticide would have previously been presumed to result in residues in food.