Clothianidin and thiamethoxam (pesticide active substances)

Draft Commission Regulation amending Annexes II and V to Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards maximum residue levels for clothianidin and thiamethoxam in or on certain products

The proposed draft Regulation addresses an environmental concern of global nature, that it is the decline of pollinators worldwide. It concerns the review of all existing maximum residue levels (MRLs) for clothianidin and thiamethoxam to the limit of quantification in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 396/2005. This draft Regulation follows the non-renewal of the approval, due to the withdrawal of all applications for renewal, and expiry of all grace periods provided by Member States for stocks of plant protection products (PPP) on 31 January 2019 for clothianidin and on 30 April 2019 for thiamethoxam. Prior to the non-renewal of approval, the outdoor uses of clothianidin and thiamethoxam were already severely restricted in 2013 (Regulation (EU) No 485/2013) and completely banned in 2018 (Regulation (EU) 2018/784 and Regulation (EU) 2018/785) following the risk assessments performed by European Food Safety Authority concluding that due to their intrinsic properties, the exposure from outdoor use of clothianidin and thiamethoxam leads to unacceptable risks for bees, or such risks could not be excluded based on the available data. 

Such measures were previously notified to the World Trade Organization through the notifications G/TBT/N/EU/497, G/TBT/N/EU/499 and G/SPS/N/EU/39