Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 establishes the rules governing the setting and the review of pesticide maximum residue levels (MRLs) at European level. According to Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 396/2005, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) shall provide within 12 months from the date of the inclusion or non-inclusion of an active substance in Annex I to Directive 91/414/EEC a reasoned opinion on the review of the existing MRLs for that active substance. Article 12(2) of that Regulation stipulates that EFSA shall provide by 1 September 2009 a reasoned opinion on the review of the existing MRLs for all active substances included in Annex I to Directive 91/414/EEC before 2 September 2008.

According to the legal provisions, EFSA shall base its reasoned opinion on the relevant assessment report prepared under Directive 91/414/EEC or Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009. The reasoned opinion should cover all pesticide residues data relevant to the risk assessment and MRL setting for a given active substance, including analytical methods and limit of determination (LOD) for enforcement of the proposed MRLs. All proposed MRLs should accommodate uses authorised within the European Union (EU), and uses authorised in third countries that have a significant impact on international trade. Among the active substances that need to be reviewed under Article 12(1) and 12(2) of Regulation (EC) No 396/2005, EFSA identified six active substances for which a review of MRLs is no longer considered necessary.

EFSA prepared a statement explaining the reasons why a review of MRLs for these substances became obsolete. The corresponding question numbers are considered addressed by this statement. Furthermore, for three active substances, the existing uses were assessed in the framework of the renewal (combined assessment). The list of active substances for which the MRL review was addressed during the renewal in the course of 2021 is also reported as an Annex to this statement.