Australian growers exporting to the European Union are being advised to immediately cease using products containing the active constituent iprodione following an EU decision to withdraw approval for the substance from next year.
EU members states have been given until June 2018 to withdraw authorisation for iprodione use, following the EU decision on 14 November 2017 not to renew approval.
It is expected that current European Union maximum residue limits (MRLs) for iprodione will be removed and set to a default level of 0.01 mg/kg.
Iprodione is the active constituent in a wide range of horticultural fungicides registered for use in Australia for use on apples and pears as a fungicide to manage storage rot diseases.
Iprodione is still approved for use on apples and pears in Australia by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicine Authority (APVMA) and Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). Currently the Australian MRL is set at 3 mg/kg.
The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (DAWR) has advised it will notify industries further on the specific timeframes around the withdrawal of authorisation for iprodione once a World Trade Organisation notice is distributed for the removal of MRLs.
Growers looking to export must ensure they maintain the Maximum Residue Limits for the country they are exporting to. Information on MRLs can be found under the DAWR National Residue Survey (NRS) Australian and Overseas Maximum Residue Limit database.
The NRS MRL Web database provides the Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) established in Australia by APVMA and the major export markets of industries supported by NRS.
Growers that are marketing to countries other than Australia should be aware that the information provided in these tables represents the official standards, but not necessarily the marketing requirements.
The websites of other countries may list more up-to-date MRLs or, in some cases, less up-to-date MRLs than the ones compiled by the NRS. This is due to sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) notifications being processed through individual country’s MRL lists.
Growers who require assistance can contact APAL’s Technical Manager Angus Crawford by email at acrawford@apal.org.au