Pesticide residues

Growing demand for food has encouraged producers to increase agricultural productivity and maintain crop quality as efficiently as possible, which may include the use of pesticides in crop production. Pesticide residues may remain not only in crops used directly for human consumption, but also in feed commodities used in livestock production. These residues can be transferred from feed to food of animal origin, such as meat, milk, and eggs.

To protect consumer health, maximum residue limits (MRLs) and extraneous maximum residue limits (EMRLs) are established for pesticide residues in both food and animal feed, as well as for foods of animal origin, based on scientific risk assessments. These limits ensure that dietary exposure from the consumption of foods of animal origin remains within safe levels and provides a basis for regulatory control and international trade.

The Codex Alimentarius and pesticide residues

Codex MRLs (CXLs) and EMRLs

The Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCPR) is the primary body responsible for developing Codex Alimentarius standards and related texts in this area. The Committee recommends risk management measures, most notably maximum residue limits (MRLs) for pesticide residues in foods of plant and animal origin, including feed commodities, for adoption by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC). These measures are developed in accordance with the Risk Analysis Principles applied by CCPR, which also govern its interaction with the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meeting on Pesticide Residues (JMPR), the body that provides the scientific advice underpinning the establishment of risk-based MRLs.

Codex MRLs for pesticide residues in food and feed are established based on JMPR safety risk assessments. Some pesticides, particularly persistent organic chemicals, may remain in soils, water, and sediments long after their agricultural use has ceased. These substances can be taken up by crops through environmental pathways, even in the absence of current use, resulting in unavoidable, low‑level residues in food commodities. Because these residues do not arise from current good agricultural practice, Codex distinguishes them from conventional pesticide residues and addresses them through specific regulatory approaches, including Extraneous Maximum Residue Limits (EMRLs) following JMPR safety risk assessments. These limits help prevent unnecessary trade disruptions by providing internationally agreed, science‑based reference points for residues that are unavoidable yet toxicologically acceptable.

Codex internationally agreed MRLs or EMRLs provide clear, harmonized enforcement benchmarks under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on the application of sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS Agreement), supporting proportionate regulatory action and consistent compliance decisions across jurisdictions, enabling trade while protecting consumers’ health.

Complementary guidance

In support of its mandate to establish Codex MRLs, CCPR develops complementary guidance, such as the Classification of foods and animal feeds (CXA 4‑1989). The Classification provides the standardized coding system used to apply MRLs by grouping food and feed commodities according to defined criteria, including residue behaviour. While similarities among commodities are often reflected in shared botanical characteristics, the Classification is not a purely botanical or taxonomic system. By enabling the grouping of comparable commodities into groups or subgroups, it provides a science-based basis for extrapolating residue data and establishing group MRLs. This approach is particularly relevant for minor crops, supporting both international trade facilitation and consumer health protection where individual MRLs might otherwise not be established.

CCPR also developed guidance that sets science-based criteria for identifying active substances of low public health concern, many of which are biopesticides, that may be exempt from establishing MRLs. By providing harmonized criteria rather than maintaining substance lists, Codex enables Members to develop aligned national approaches and reduces the emergence of divergent regulatory lists. This promotes regulatory coherence, reduces uncertainty, and helps avoid unnecessary barriers to market access.

Cooperative work with other committees: dual-use compounds

At the inter‑committee level, CCPR collaborates with the Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (CCRVDF) on matters of common interest, including the establishment of harmonized MRLs for compounds with dual use as veterinary drugs and pesticides. Additional information on this collaborative novel initiative is available on the relevant Codex webpage.

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