Modification of the existing MRLs for acetamiprid in cress, spinach and herbs

According to Article 6(2) of Regulation (EC) No 396/2005, The United Kingdom received an application from the Horticultural Development Council to modify the existing MRLs for acetamiprid in cress, spinach and herbs. The applicant proposes to raise the existing MRLs, which are currently set at the analytical limit of quantification of 0.01 mg/kg, to 5 mg/kg. The subsequent evaluation report drafted by The United Kingdom was forwarded to EFSA on 14/01/2009 according to Article 9 of the Regulation. Based on the evaluation report of The United Kingdom, the Draft Assessment Report (DAR) prepared by the Rapporteur Member State (RMS) Greece under Directive 91/414/EEC and evaluation reports prepared by Greece and France in 2005 in support of MRL proposals for lettuce, EFSA derives the following conclusion regarding the application. The metabolism of acetamiprid was investigated for foliar applications close to harvest in eggplants, apples, cabbage and carrots. Three crop groups (fruit, leafy vegetable and root group) are covered by the available study. Metabolism was shown to be similar and acetamiprid was the main component in all investigated crops. Therefore, the parent compound acetamiprid was proposed as a general residue definition for all crop groups for enforcement and risk assessment. An analytical method is available for enforcement of MRLs for acetamiprid in leafy crops. A sufficient amount of supervised residue trials on lettuce is available and considering the comparability of the GAPs, the results of these trials can be extrapolated to cress, spinach and herbs. EFSA concludes that a MRL of 3 or 5 mg/kg would be required to accommodate for the intended uses of acetamiprid in cress, spinach and herbs. The possible occurrence of acetamiprid residues in rotational crops is not expected due to the rapid degradation of the parent compound in soil. However, the relevance of the major metabolites in soil IM-1-4 (N-methyl-(6-chloro-3-pyridy1)-methylamine) and IM-1-5 (N-(6chloropyridin-3-ylmethyl)-N-methyl-acetamidine) for rotational crops was discussed in the peer review, but a final conclusion could not be derived. Therefore EFSA recommends that the United Kingdom should consider appropriate risk mitigation measures (e.g. by defining pre-planting intervals) in order to avoid residues of IM-I-4 and IM-I-5 in rotational crops. Residues in commodities of animal origin were not assessed in the framework of this application considering that the crops under evaluation are usually not fed to livestock. Chronic and acute intake calculations were performed using revision 2 of the EFSA PRIMo. The chronic intake calculations considered the newly proposed MRLs as well as all existing MRLs for the active substance. No chronic intake concerns were identified for all available European diets. The potential chronic exposure was not higher than 11% of the ADI. The contribution of spinach and the other crops concerned was less than 1%. Also the acute intake calculations for the crops under assessment on the basis of the HR values did not reveal potential consumer health risks. EFSA recommendations resulting from the assessment are summarized in the table below. [GRAPHICS]