News from AAFC’s Market Access Secretariat
This message is to inform you that China has released a revised National Food Safety Standard for Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for Pesticides in Foods (GB 2763-2021). The standard includes the full list of China’s MRLs for 548 pesticides in various food categories. MRLs have also been established for some pesticides that have not been registered in China but may be found in imported products.
The revised standard is set to be implemented on September 3, 2021, and will replace the current standard (GB 2763-2019) implemented since 2019. Compared with GB 2763-2019, the updated standard contains 81 additional pesticides and 2,985 new MRLs. This standard also consolidates the previous version of the standard and all updates that have been made since it was last issued in 2019. It is our understanding that all or almost all of the new and revised MRLs in this standard have been separately notified by China to the World Trade Organization (WTO) since 2019.
Please note that at this point, China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) has only made publicly available a draft version as it is still completing the official final version of the new standard. MARA has indicated that it will be publishing the official final version later in 2021, but has not specified any specific timelines for completing and publishing this official final version nor indicated as to whether or not they will amend the implementation date of September 3, 2021.
For your information, you may use the following link to access the unofficial English-translated version of the standard provided by courtesy of the Embassies of Australia and Canada in Beijing, and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA): Translation of Maximum Residue Limits for Pesticides in Foods_Beijing_China – People’s Republic of_08-22-2021.
Should you have any questions or comments, please submit them to the Market Access Secretariat at aafc.mas-sam.aac@agr.gc.ca.
