Acetamiprid: new MRLs for plums (0.04), linseed and gold of pleasure seed (0.06), mustard seed (0.15), poppy seed (0.3) and honey (0.3 mg/kg) — checked against ADI and ARfD lowered to 0.005 mg/kg bw and with metabolite IM-2-1
Commission Regulation (EU) 2025/1212, published on 31 July 2025, replaces the acetamiprid column in Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 396/2005. It raises the MRLs for plums, linseed, poppy seed, mustard seed, gold of pleasure seed and “honey and other apiculture products”, and for soya beans it adopts the Codex CXL of 0.01 mg/kg — numerically equal to the previous value set at the limit of quantification, but no longer marked as LOQ (*).
- Values in the annex (mg/kg): plums 0.04; linseed 0.06; poppy seed 0.3; mustard seed 0.15; gold of pleasure seed 0.06; honey and other apiculture products 0.3; soya beans 0.01. Residue definition for enforcement: acetamiprid; for products of animal origin (code 1000000 except honey 1040000) — sum of acetamiprid and N-desmethyl-acetamiprid (IM-2-1), expressed as acetamiprid.
- EFSA reasoned opinions of 2021 and 2022: enforcement methods can control acetamiprid in plant matrices and in honey at a validated LOQ of 0.01 mg/kg; oilseed data were extrapolated from oilseed rape. For poppy and mustard seed EFSA offered a choice of 0.3 or 0.06 and 0.15 or 0.06 mg/kg, for honey — 2 mg/kg from four trials (two without control samples) or 0.3 mg/kg from merging two data sets (six trials); the act sets 0.3, 0.15 and 0.3 mg/kg.
- EFSA statement of 2024 (e8759): given major uncertainties on developmental neurotoxicity, the ADI and ARfD were lowered from 0.025 to 0.005 mg/kg bw, and IM-2-1 was added to the residue definition for risk assessment in fruit and leafy crops; with the new values a risk was identified for 38 MRLs then in force. According to recital 8 of the act, the new MRLs were checked against the new ADI, ARfD and definition — with no exceedances.
- The enforcement residue definition in plant products stays unchanged — EFSA considered acetamiprid alone a sufficient marker in all crop groups, so laboratories monitoring plant foods still determine the parent compound. Footnote (+) for apples, pears, quinces, apricots, sweet peppers, cucumbers and courgettes: EFSA identified missing residue trial information — the Commission will take it into account when reviewing the MRLs if submitted by 19 February 2027, or otherwise take its absence into account.