The United States is the world’s top exporter of food and agricultural products with over $130 billion in export sales annually. The global demand for U.S. agricultural products is expected to grow 60% by 2050. The Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) is responsible for linking U.S. agriculture to the world to enhance export opportunities and promote global food security. FAS does this through cooperation between U.S. farmers and other governmental agencies, trade policy, capacity building, and trade promotion. One important aspect of the agricultural process that is heavily involved in trade policy is the setting and regulating of pesticide maximum residue limits (MRLs). An MRL is the maximum amount of pesticide residue that is legally allowed to remain on food products when a pesticide is used according to label directions. In recent years, public concern over pesticide MRLs has caused governments to impose much more stringent MRLs, causing trade barriers. The Codex Alimentarius (Codex) is a collection of internationally recognized standards, codes of practice, guidelines, and other recommendations relating to foods, food production, and food safety. FAS works with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with Codex, and with countries trading agricultural products with the goal of ensuring that MRLs are science-based and harmonized to international standards. When countries propose trade restrictive MRLs or MRLs that are not based on science, FAS works with regulatory authorities and other stakeholders to implement MRLs that facilitate trade. This talk will include an overview of the main trade challenges related to MRLs in various regions and what FAS is doing to address them.

Global challenges in trade policy: Pesticide MRLs

2019 Fall National Meeting

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