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4 Monitoring- Report 2020 QS Fachgesellschaft Obst-Gemüse-Kartoffeln and DFHV Deutscher Fruchthandelsverband e.V. In October 2019, the EU member states unanimously adop- ted the draft EU Regulation for stipulating maximum levels (ML) of perchlorate in food. This provides a ML of 0.05 mg/kg for various fruit and vegetable crops, 0.1 mg/kg for cucur- bitaceae/kale and 0.5 mg/kg for leaf vegetables/herbs. According to the EU, the limit values for perchlorate defined in SANTE 10126/2019 are expected to apply from July 1, 2020. But what consequences will the newly defined MLs for per- chlorate have in the practice: In a study carried out by QS and DFHV, perchlorate was found in ten product groups (see Fig. 1). In six cases (1.1%) an exceedance of the ML appli- cable from 1 July 2020 would be registered (see Fig. 2). Several MRL adjustments are currently unsettling the entire fruit and vegetable industry. QS and DFHV explored the conse- quences of the planned MRLs of chlorate and ML of perchlorate on certain crop groups in terms of the MRL concentration. Romain Cools from the World Potato Congress (WPC) provides his assessment on the likewise planned MRLs reduction for chlorpropham . Topics in focus Effects of MRL/ML adjustments Perchlorate New maximum levels shall apply from 1 July 2020 The EU Commission decided in June 2019 not to renew the approval for the active substance chlorpropham . In Ger- many, all approvals for plant protection products contai- ning chlorpropham expired on 31 July 2019. They are now subject to a sales period until 31 January 2020 and a use- by period until 8 October 2020. The EU member states re- voke the approvals for plant protection products with the active ingredient chlorpropham by 8 January 2020 at the latest. This is usually followed by a reduction of the MRL. For chlorpropham it can also be assumed that the MRL will be lowered after the end of the use up period. The exact date and amount had not been defined by the editorial clo- sing of this issue. An EU-wide ban on the use of plant protection products containing the active substance chlorate has been in force since 2010. In addition to use as a pesticide, however, there are other pathways of entry (e.g. drinking water). In recent years, it has been discussed about the legal framework go- verning the MRLs and how they should be implemented. It is expected that in February 2020 there will be vote on a draft EU regulation (according to Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 ), which provides binding MRLs for chlorate in dif- ferent crops and crop groups without any transitional pro- visions. Figure 3 shows that chlorate was detected in 12 crop groups, particularly in leafy and fruiting vegetables. From the perspective of the currently proposed MRLs (SANTE 10684_2015 Rev.8) , exceedances of the MRL would be re- gistered in 12 out of 364 samples (3.3%) (see Fig. 4). The affected crops are strawberry (outdoor/Germany), grape- fruit (Mexico), melon (Honduras), small radish (green- house/Netherlands), cucumber (Netherlands), tomatoes (1 from Belgium, 5 from Spain) and courgettes (Spain) . Chlorpropham Approval not renewed, MRL reduction threatens Chlorate Binding MRLs planned in the course of 2020 Exploitation of MRL in % Proportion of findings in % ≤ 1 > 1-10 > 10-20 > 20-30 > 30-40 > 40-50 > 50-60 > 60-70 > 70-80 > 80-90 > 90-100 > 100 1.1 67.6 11.8 7.4 2.5 1.1 1.6 0.8 1.1 1.1 0.5 3.3 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 PERCENTAGE EXPLOITATION OF THE PROPOSED MAXIMUM RESIDUE LEVELS AMOUNT OF SAMPLES ANALYSED FOR CHLORATE AND CHLORATE DETECTION Crop group Number of samples 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 Cultivated mushrooms Citrus fruits Potatoes Stem vegetables Brassica vegetables/ cabbages Exotics Stone fruit Herbs Fruiting vegetables Leafy vegetables Analysed for chlorate Chlorate detected 734 180 81 28 49 7 3 3 7 1 1 2 2 444 330 148 104 73 55 41 19 14 14 10 Strawberries/ Soft fruit Root and tuber vegetables Exploitation of ML in % Proportion of findings in % ≤ 1 > 1-10 > 10-20 > 20-30 > 30-40 > 40-50 > 50-60 > 60-70 > 70-80 > 80-90 > 90-100 > 100 0.9 64.4 15.3 8.2 3.2 3.5 1.5 0.4 0.7 0.6 0.2 1.1 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 AMOUNT OF SAMPLES ANALYSED FOR PERCHLORATE AND PERCHLORATE DETECTION Crop group Number of samples Analysed for perchlorate Perchlorate detected 0 200 400 600 800 1000 Kohlrabi leaves Citrus fruits Legumes Brassica vegetables/ cabbages Exotics Herbs Fruiting vegetables Leafy vegetables 890 295 56 134 23 3 10 10 3 2 1 565 251 237 109 51 49 21 19 2 Root and tuber vegetables Strawberries/ soft fruit PERCENTAGE EXPLOITATION OF THE MAXIMUM LEVELS EXPECTED TO APPLY FROM 1 JULY 2020 The withdrawal procedure and the replacement of CIPC in the potato sector is the most drastic change in my 30 year career in our sector. Not only do we have to learn how to work with the natural alternatives, but also all storage facilities have to be intensively cleaned to avoid cross contamination. As this is a food safety related issue, as well the competent authorities as the value chain itself will install stringent control measures on po- tatoes and potato products. It’s crucial for all operators to take this serious and for quality schemes to highlight this issue in the guidelines and monitoring procedures. ROMAIN COOlS, PRESIDENT OF THE WORLD POTATO CONGRESS Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4 IMPRINT Responsible for the content: DFHV Deutscher Fruchthandelsverband e.V. Dr. Andreas Brügger Bergweg 6 D-53225 Bonn Telephone: +49 228 91145-0 Internet: www.dfhv.de QS Qualität und Sicherheit GmbH Dr. Hermann-Josef Nienhoff Schedestr. 1-3 D-53113 Bonn Telephone: +49 228 35068-0 Internet: www.q-s.de Design: Susanne Del Din (del din design, Siegburg, Germany) Photos: Shutterstock Data basis: Analysis results from residue monitoring programmes of DFHV and QS, from October 2018 to end of September 2019 As of January 2020