EU control programme for pesticide residues 2027–2029: Regulation (EU) 2026/748 — 683 samples per product per year, 51 from Poland, qualitative screening in at most 15% of samples
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/748, published on 1 April 2026, establishes the multiannual coordinated EU control programme for pesticide residues in food of plant and animal origin for 2027, 2028 and 2029. It applies from 1 January 2027 and replaces the programme under Regulation (EU) 2025/854.
- Member States sample and analyse the pesticide/product combinations in Annex I: plant products (e.g. apples, oranges, bananas, tomatoes, potatoes, wheat, brown rice, wine, olive oil) and animal products (bovine, poultry and swine fat, cow’s milk, chicken eggs, bovine liver). Many substances are analysed only in selected products and years — for example ethylene oxide in 2029 only in dried beans and brown rice.
- The minimum number of samples per product per year totals 683 — from 12 in smaller countries to 51 in Poland and 106 in Germany. EFSA estimated that with 683 samples from at least 32 products an MRL exceedance rate above 1% can be estimated with a 0.75% margin of error. On top come samples of food for infants and young children — over the programme years 10 samples of processed cereal-based food, 10 samples of other baby food and 5 samples each of infant and follow-on formula — plus organic samples, where available, in proportion to their market share, at least one.
- Qualitative screening methods may be used for no more than 15% of samples, and positive results must be confirmed quantitatively with a targeted method. Single-residue methods may be performed by another official laboratory that has them validated. The act refers to guidance SANTE/11312/2021 v2 on quality control and validation, published on the Commission website, and sampling follows Directive 2002/63/EC.
- Results go to EFSA in Standard Sample Description version 2 format by 31 August of the following year, and for complex residue definitions each separately measured analyte is reported separately. For samples taken in 2026, Regulation 2025/854 continues to apply until 1 September 2027; it also provided for 683 samples, 51 of them from Poland.
Source: Rozporządzenie wykonawcze Komisji (UE) 2026/748 z dnia 31 marca 2026 r. (Dz.U. L 2026/748, 1.4.2026)