Reasoned opinion on the modification of the existing MRL for spiromesifen in tea

Abstract

In accordance with Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 396/2005, The United Kingdom, herewith referred to as the evaluating Member State (EMS), received an application from Bayer CropScience AG to set an import tolerance for the active substance spiromesifen in tea. In order to accommodate for the authorized uses of spiromesifen on tea in Japan, India and Indonesia, the EMS proposed to raise the existing MRL in tea to 50 mg/kg. The EMS drafted an evaluation report according to Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 396/2005, which was submitted to the European Commission and forwarded to EFSA. According to EFSA, the data on black tea are sufficient to derive a MRL proposal of 50 mg/kg for the existing enforcement residue definition (spiromesifen) and 80 mg/kg for the residue definition proposed by the peer review (the sum of spiromesifen and spiromesifen-enol, expressed as spiromesifen). An adequate analytical enforcement method is available to control residues of spiromesifen and spiromesifen-enol in dry commodities. The applicant has to confirm that the method can be also used for the determination of spiromesifen residues in tea, which is considered as a matrix difficult to analyse. Based on the risk assessment results, EFSA concludes that the authorized use of spiromesifen on tea will not result in a consumer exposure exceeding the toxicological reference values and therefore is unlikely to pose a public health risk.