Workshop on Pesticide Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs):

Possible Next Steps for Consideration by the SPS Committee

Submission by Kenya, Uganda and the United States OF AMERICA

The following communication, received on 8 March 2017, is being circulated at the request of the Delegations of Kenya, Uganda and the United States of America.

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Kenya, Uganda and the United States appreciate the in-depth examination of the impact of pesticide MRL-related issues on international trade at the Workshop on Pesticide MRLs held on 24‑25 October 2016 for WTO SPS Committee Members.^[1] We thank the Secretariat of the Committee for its efforts to organize the workshop. Discussions in the Committee on MRL-related concerns, as well as the views provided at the workshop by experts from a wide range of countries and organizations, confirm the central importance of risk analysis – including assessing, managing and communicating risks associated with pesticide use – to protecting public health and the environment, while enabling the safe use of plant protection products and facilitating international trade.

Workshop participants also confirmed there is a broad range of MRL-related issues that are currently having a significant impact on trade in food and agricultural products. We believe that the SPS Committee can play a constructive role in addressing these trade-related concerns. Indeed, several Members expressed the need to continue to advance work in the Committee on trade-related issues on MRLs at the meeting of the Committee on 27-28 October 2016. To initiate discussion on how the Committee might advance our work on trade-related MRL issues, we offer the following suggestions for Members' consideration.