The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on April 08, 2024, issued a notification regarding Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for Spices and Culinary Herbs.
The following has been stated: -
•Based on the scientific opinion and with the approval of the Food Authority the following revised methodology has been decided: -
a)The MRLS of pesticides for food commodities including spices and culinary Herbs are specified under Food Safety and Standards (Contaminants, Toxins and Residues) Regulation, 2011. These MRLS are fixed based on the field trial data received through the Central Insecticides Board and Registration Committee (CIB&RC), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. Until the field trial data is available, the MRLs for spices are also fixed based on the data generated under the Monitoring of Pesticide Residues at National Level (MPRNL) scheme, by the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.
b)In case the pesticide is registered with CIB&RC and MRLs are specified for food commodities other than spices and culinary herbs, then the MRLS specified under Codex shall be applicable. Further, if the MRLS are not specified by the Codex, then the MRL of 0.1 mg/kg shall apply for spices and culinary herbs.
c)In case the pesticide is not registered with CIB&RC then the MRL of 0.1 mg/kg will be applicable for spices and culinary herbs.
•This order will supersede the orders dated April 21, 2022, and August 30, 2022.
The detailed notification is given in the document attached below.
[Notification No. File No. Std/SP-02/Technical Matter/2021-22 [E-4311]]
