Introductory text

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 February 2005 on maximum residue levels of pesticides in or on food and feed of plant and animal origin and amending Council Directive 91/414/EEC^f1, in particular Article 29(2) thereof,

Whereas:

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1213/2008^f2 established a first coordinated multiannual Community control programme, covering the years 2009, 2010 and 2011. That programme continued under consecutive Commission Regulations. The latest one was Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/533^f3.

Thirty to forty foodstuffs constitute the major components of the diet in the Union. Since pesticide uses show significant changes over a period of three years, pesticides should be monitored in those foodstuffs over a series of three-year cycles to allow consumer exposure and the application of Union legislation to be assessed.

The European Food Safety Authority (‘the Authority’) submitted a scientific report on a design assessment of the pesticide monitoring program. It concluded that an MRL exceedance rate above 1 % could be estimated with a margin of error of 0,75 % by selecting 683 sample units for a minimum of 32 different food items.^f4 Collection of those samples should be apportioned among Member States according to population numbers, with a minimum of 12 samples per product and per year.

Analytical results from the previous official control programmes of the Union have been taken into account to ensure that the range of pesticides covered by the control programme is representative for the pesticides used.

Guidance concerning ‘Analytical quality control and validation procedures for pesticide residues analysis in food and feed’ is published on the Commission website^f5.

Where the residue definition of a pesticide includes other active substances, metabolites and/or breakdown or reaction products, those compounds should be reported separately as far as they are measured individually^f6.

Implementing measures, such as the Standard Sample Description version 2 (SSD2) and the Chemical Monitoring Reporting Guideline, for submitting results of pesticide residues analysis, relating to the submission of information by Member States have been agreed by Member States, the Commission and the Authority.

For the sampling procedures, Commission Directive 2002/63/EC^f7, which incorporates the sampling methods and procedures recommended by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, should apply.

It is necessary to assess whether maximum residue levels for food for infants and young children provided for in Article 10 of Commission Directive 2006/141/EC^f8, Article 7 of Commission Directive 2006/125/EC^f9 and Article 4 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/127^f10 are respected, taking into account only the residue definitions as they are set out in Regulation (EC) No 396/2005.

As regards single residue methods, Member States may be able to meet their obligations of analysis by having recourse to official laboratories already having the validated methods required.

Member States should submit by 31 August of each year the information concerning the previous calendar year.

In order to avoid any confusion due to an overlap between consecutive multiannual programmes, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/533 should be repealed in the interest of legal certainty. It should, however, continue to apply to samples tested in 2020.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: