EU not to renew benalaxyl and fenamiphos

Date:10-05-2020

The European Commission (EC) has recently issued notifications of the change of plant protection product (PPPs) approval status within the European Union (UE). Of particular interest is the non-renewal of approval of 2 key PPPs: benalaxyl and fenamiphos.

This news also provides a review of all PPP approval changes introduced to-date in 2020.

MRL changes following non-renewal of these active substances

Following non-renewal of EU authorizations and the expiry of all grace periods, the maximum residue levels (MRLs) are generally lowered to the limit of determination (LOD): 0.01 mg/kg. In most cases this will mean that these substances can no longer be used on crops for export to the EU.

Decisions on the new MRLs will be taken at forthcoming meetings of the European Commission Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed.

Non-renewal of fenamiphos

Fenamiphos is an insecticide and nematicide used to control nematodes and aphids. It is used on a wide range of horticultural crops in ACP countries including: bananas, citrus, pineapples, tomatoes, peppers, aubergine, cucumber, and zucchini.

On September 2 2020, the European Commission published a Regulation withdrawing the approval of fenamiphos by September 23 2020 and the authorization for use in the EU by September 23 2021 (grace period). The MRL will likely be reduced to the LoD, but the date of entry into force of the new MRLs is not yet known. 

Non-renewal of benalaxyl

Benalaxyl is a fungicide used to control oomycetes such as blue mould, late blight and downy mildew. It is used on a wide range of horticultural crops in ACP countries including: onion, potato and tomato.

On September 15 2020, the European Commission published a Regulation withdrawing the approval for benalaxyl by October 6 2020 and the authorization for use in the EU by October 5 2021 (grace period). The MRL will likely be reduced to the LoD, but the date of entry into force of the new MRLs is not yet known. 

Other PPP status changes introduces in September 2020

Table 1 presents the list of other changes of status of PPP approval introduced in September 2020.

All PPP status changes introduced to-date in 2020

Table 2 presents a review of PPP status changes since the beginning of 2020.