Pesticide limit specifications for organic claim
I am trying to verify whether a raw material is pesticide free or not.
Does anyone have a specification limit that we need to conform to?
can you please say which organic scheme? COR, USA, Japan etc
The raw material is from Japan but we trying to certify in the US.
Ok, Ask the supplier IF they were also certified against the US standard.
When we get re certified we always ensure we are certified against the US and Japan organic schemes to avoid this situation (if we ever export)
Please read this link, there is supposed to be an equivalency agreement between Japan and the US
I am looking for the "Maximum Residue Limit" for pesticides in organic food. Is it 0 or is there any tolerance limit? Sorry I wasn't clear earlier.
I can find for regular food but I can't find any info specifically for organic food.
I've seen a value of 5% of the "standard" MRL quoted for the US, but my expertise is primarily EU rather than US.
Yet to find a proper link to substantiate this, but it is mentioned in the introduction to this (admittedly slightly old) USDA report: https://www.ams.usda...1PilotStudy.pdf
And also in this journal article on pesticide residues in organic products focussing on the US, EU and Turkey: https://pdfs.semanti...1cf7972be64.pdf
Nonetheless, in your position I think I'd just ask my organic certifying body to confirm - they should be able to do this very easily!
My understanding is that there is no MRL for organic products as pesticides are not allowed to be used for organic products (only restricted use, by organic-approved pesticides).
Maybe I'm wrong? :dunno:
In some jurisdictions the residue limits are separate to the authorisation for use - e.g. you're potentially allowed residues of pesticides on product imported into Europe that you wouldn't be permitted to actually apply to crops grown here. (This is slightly different to the US)
In practice this means that for organic products there is scope for sensible recognition that it's possible for some residues even if no pesticides are used. Even with suitable buffer areas, conversion times moving from non-organic to organic growing etc. it's not always possible to completely eliminate all potential contamination, e.g. control what the wind/rain may do with pesticides that other nearby farmers may be using.
The second link that I provided above gives some discussion on the different approaches to MRLs for organic in Europe and Turkey as well as the US.