Maximum residue levels

Harmonised provisions relating to maximum levels of pesticide residues in or on food and feed of plant and animal origin are established by Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 on maximum residue levels of pesticides.5⁴ This is done in accordance with the general EU principles on food safety.55

The Regulation applies to the products covered by Annex I when they are to be used as food or feed in or on which pesticide residues may be present. There is also a procedure for defining active substances of plant protection products for which no maximum residue levels are required. The Regulation is based on Treaty provisions

• 5² [2009] OJ L 309/71. For a critique of the way sustainability is understood and pursued by the Directive see O Hamlyn ‘Sustainability and the Failure of Ambition in European Pesticides Regulation’ (2015) 27Journal of Environmental Law 405—29.
• 53 Preambular para 2. 54 [2005] OJ L 70/1.
• 55 These principles are set out in Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety [2002] OJ L 31/1.

relating to the common agricultural policy and public health and is focused on health protection rather than broader environmental considerations.