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Pesticide Residue Standards (MRLs)

New Zealand Residue Standards

Both imported and domestically produced food sold in New Zealand must comply with the New Zealand (Maximum Residue Limits of Agricultural Compounds) Food Standard.

This Standard lists the MRLs for a range of pesticides and veterinary drugs, but also includes a provision for residues of up to 0.1 mg/kg for veterinary drug or pesticide/food combination not specifically listed.

In addition, the Standard recognises the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Agreement for food imported from Australia and the role of Codex Standards for imported food in general.

Under this NZ MRL Standard, pesticide and veterinary drug residues in food must:

• Comply with the specific MRLs listed in the NZ Food Standard (including the "default MRL of 0.1 mg/kg where no specific MRL is listed)
  
  OR
• Comply with Codex MRLs (for imported food)
  
  OR
• Comply with the Australian Food Standards Code (Part 1.4) for food imported from Australia

Export Residue Standards

Market access for fresh fruit and vegetables depends on the production of high quality, pest and disease free produce. Effective pest and disease control often requires the use of pesticides to supplement other crop management strategies.

In many cases, the use of pesticides (including fungicides and herbicides) can result in the presence of residues at harvest. Most countries have established Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for these pesticides - not only to safeguard consumer health, but also to promote Good Agricultural Practice in the use of pesticides.

These MRLs, or residue standards, vary from country to country depending on the pesticides available, the crops being treated and the way the pesticides are used. Food exporters must comply with these MRLs as a condition of market access.

NZFSA maintains an MRL database  of pesticide residue standards established by NZ's major trading partners. This database covers all pesticides registered for sale in New Zealand and includes most of the major export fruit and vegetable crops and their potential markets.

In addition, NZFSA provides an advisory service on suggested Pre-Harvest Intervals (PHIs) for common pesticides used on various export crops, such that when these are followed, residues in the crop at harvest should comply with importing country MRLs.

MRL Database

A database of selected pesticide Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) has been developed for most pesticides registered in New Zealand, on the more important crops exported from New Zealand.

The purpose of this database is to provide New Zealand Exporters with information on pesticide MRLs that have been established by major trading partners. The database is therefore not a complete listing of all MRLs, but does include the most recent data available for:

• Most Pesticides Registered in New Zealand [Access to information on pesticides that are registered in New Zealand can be found on the NZFSA ACVMG Webpage.
• Most of New Zealand's major trading partners [See the Table below].
• The major fresh fruit and vegetable commodities grown in New Zealand [Crop List]

MRL information from the database has been extracted for each country, and can be downloaded as PDF Files from the following Table. In addition, a link to a Website that contains the source documents used in the construction of the database is also included (where these have been found).

Please note however, that NZFSA cannot guarantee the accuracy of the database and users are advised to check with the appropriate authorities before using this information.

MRL listings for NZ registered pesticides on selected crops and National MRL Links:

Other Links

Links to other pesticide MRL-related Websites include:

• Australia: Links to other MRL sites
• Australia: MRL database for apples and pears
• Australia: Wine Institute MRL database
• Brazil:  ANVISA Home page (try LMR in the search box)
• Freshfel Europe MRL database
• Netherlands RIKILT MRL database
• USA: FAS International MRL database
• USA: FAS Export MRL-PHI database
• USA – WSU PICOL Labels & Tolerance database
• USA – NW Horticultural Council Chemicals webpage