Ethephon, propamocarb and dimoxystrobin: ethephon MRL in blueberries from 20 to 0.01 mg/kg, in apples 0.7 mg/kg, in cereals a residue definition including conjugates; propamocarb in lettuces 30 mg/kg
Commission Regulation (EU) 2026/215, published on 30 January 2026, amends Annexes II and V to Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 and applies from 19 August 2026. For cereals the residue definition for enforcement now reads “sum of ethephon free and conjugated, expressed as ethephon”, and the MRLs for dimoxystrobin, whose approval was not renewed, drop to the limits of determination of Annex V.
- Ethephon — changes against the existing MRLs (“before” values from EFSA statement e8757): blueberries 20 → 0.01* mg/kg (MRL based on a revoked CXL, no data for a new value, exceedance of the ARfD cannot be excluded); apples 0.8 → 0.7 mg/kg (at the CXL of 0.8 mg/kg acute exposure was 106 % of the ARfD); pineapples 2 → 1.5; barley 1 → 1.5, rye 1 → 0.8, wheat 1 → 0.5 mg/kg. For apples and blueberries there is no transitional period for products placed on the market earlier.
- In the renewal of the approval of ethephon EFSA proposed lowering the ADI from 0.03 to 0.02 mg/kg bw per day. According to EFSA, ethephon can be enforced at an LOQ of 0.01 mg/kg in plant matrices and of 0.01 and 0.005 mg/kg in milk, eggs, meat, fat and liver. For pears, plums and grapes, data on the relevance of conjugates at pre-harvest intervals longer than 12 days are missing — the Commission will take them into account if submitted by 30 January 2028. Separately, MRLs for, among others, pears, grapes, cotton seeds and animal products, for which some information is missing (for animal products, among others, on the metabolite HEPA), will be reviewed after two years.
- Propamocarb: MRL in lettuces 40 → 30 mg/kg — according to EFSA statement e9455, at 40 mg/kg an exceedance of the ARfD could not be excluded, and 30 mg/kg results from less critical, fully supported good agricultural practices. In honey the MRL is 15 mg/kg — according to EFSA’s 2023 reasoned opinion, residues are determined by HPLC-MS/MS with an LOQ of 0.01 mg/kg.
- Dimoxystrobin — its column and the footnotes on confirmatory data were deleted from Annex II; the limits of determination of Annex V apply. In the Polish version of the act the introduction to the amended table refers to “columns for etofen and propamocarb” — the English version says “ethephon and propamocarb”.