EU Dimoxystrobin, Ethephon And Propamocarb MRLs Apply From 19 August 2026

The European Commission adopted the regulation on 29 January and published it on 30 January. Its six-month adjustment period has now ended. The measure responds to the non-renewal of dimoxystrobin, a lower acceptable daily intake for ethephon and European Food Safety Authority assessments of propamocarb uses.

EU Pesticide MRLs Now Reflect Updated Risk Assessments

Dimoxystrobin approval was not renewed in 2023. The regulation therefore moves all of its MRLs to product-specific limits of determination in Annex V to Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 and deletes related confirmatory-data footnotes. This makes analytical capability and method sensitivity central to import and release decisions.

For ethephon, the acceptable daily intake was reduced from 0.03 to 0.02 mg per kilogram of body weight per day. The revised table includes, among other entries, 0.7 mg/kg for apples and a new residue definition for cereals.

Ethephon is a plant growth regulator used for purposes including ripening and crop management, so affected pesticide supply chains extend from growers and treatment advisers to packers, processors and retailers.

For propamocarb, the Commission acted after an acute consumer risk could not be excluded for the existing lettuce MRL. The new MRL for lettuces is 30 mg/kg. Propamocarb is a fungicide used against oomycete diseases, making leafy vegetable controls and crop-treatment records particularly important.

The Stock Provision Has Important Exclusions

The previous MRLs generally remain applicable to products placed on the EU market before 19 August where a high level of consumer protection is maintained. That protection does not apply to ethephon in or on apples and blueberries, or propamocarb in or on lettuces.

Those combinations must meet the revised requirements irrespective of a pre-application market date. The exclusions make generic stock-release rules unsafe.

Importers and retailers need substance-crop-specific logic in specifications and holds, while laboratories need reporting limits aligned with the amended annexes. A certificate referring only to an old customer specification may not demonstrate current food safety compliance.

What Food And Agriculture Businesses Should Do

Growers should check authorised uses, application intervals and residue trial assumptions. Importers should update supplier specifications and confirm treatment histories before shipment.

Food businesses should revise risk-based sampling, with priority for the excluded combinations and dimoxystrobin at the relevant limits of determination. Laboratories should confirm that validated methods can achieve the applicable product-specific limits.

Summary

The new EU MRLs now apply to dimoxystrobin, ethephon and propamocarb. Businesses should update residue specifications, sampling plans and laboratory methods, and apply the stock exclusions for ethephon on apples and blueberries and propamocarb on lettuces.