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Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for Agricultural Compounds in Food: The Purpose and Procedure for Determining MRLs

1 Introduction

Whenever the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) proposes to alter the current edition of the New Zealand (Maximum Residue Limits of Agricultural Compounds) Food Standard (the MRL Standards), an explanation of the proposal and a request for submissions is sent to interested stakeholders and published in major newspapers. This document is intended to provide background information for that consultation process, which happens several times a year. This document covers:

• what MRLs are,

• how MRLs are determined,

• how MRLs are assessed (e.g. so public health is protected), and

• how the MRL Standards work.

Submission made on behalf of an organisation should include the position within the organisation of the person making or signing the submission, and an indication of the extent of consultation, discussion and support within the organisation for the opinions and advice expressed.

If you wish to request a change to the level of a proposed MRL or suggest other amendments to the proposal, please provide justification and technical data in support of your argument. All submissions are considered and analysed before a recommendation is made to the Minister for Food Safety, who makes the final decision on issuing the MRL Standards. Relevant new information received by NZFSA may alter the advice given to the Minister for Food Safety.

You can find out whether any new MRLs are currently being proposed, and the closing date for submissions, by checking the ‘Consultation’ page of the ‘Policy & Law’ section of the NZFSA website (www.nzfsa.govt.nz/policy-law/consultation/index.htm), or by contacting NZFSA directly.

All submissions are subject to the Official Information Act 1982. Therefore, if you consider that all or part of your submission should be treated as confidential, please make this clear when making your submission. Submissions should be sent to:

MRL Amendments

Policy Group

New Zealand Food Safety Authority

PO Box 2835, WELLINGTON

Email: policy@nzfsa.govt.nz,

Facsimile: (04) 894 2583, Phone 04 894 2692