EU Revises Maximum Residue Limits for Six Pesticides Including Deltamethrin and Prothioconazole
26 October 2026, Brussels: The European Commission has adopted a new regulation revising maximum residue limits (MRLs) for six pesticide active substances in food and animal feed, a routine but commercially significant update that will affect growers and exporters supplying fruit, vegetables, cereals and animal products to the EU market.
Commission Regulation (EU) 2026/2289 was adopted in Brussels on October 15, 2026, and published in the Official Journal of the European Union on October 16, 2026. It amends Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 396/2005, the EU’s core framework law on pesticide residues in food and feed. The regulation will enter into force twenty days after publication, which places the effective date at around November 5, 2026.
The six substances affected are acequinocyl, an acaricide used against mites, deltamethrin, a widely used pyrethroid insecticide, dodine, a fungicide, maleic hydrazide, a plant growth regulator used mainly as a sprout suppressant in stored crops, pinoxaden, a cereal herbicide, and prothioconazole, a broad-spectrum fungicide.
The changes follow the standard EU process for MRL revisions. Member states, applicant companies or third countries request new or revised limits, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) assesses the dietary risk and recommends a level, and the Commission then adopts the figure through its comitology procedure. The regulation states that the new limits are set at the levels recommended by EFSA.
According to the revised limits, the following changes apply:
| Substance | Commodity | New MRL (mg/kg) |
|---|---|---|
| Acequinocyl | Blueberries, cranberries, currants, gooseberries | 2 |
| Deltamethrin | Kiwi fruit | 0.15 |
| Deltamethrin | Melons, watermelons | 0.03 |
| Dodine | Grapes | 2 |
| Maleic hydrazide | Poultry liver and kidney | 0.03 |
| Maleic hydrazide | Sheep and goat kidney | 3 |
| Pinoxaden | Barley, wheat, rye | 0.8 |
| Prothioconazole | Celeriac | 0.1 |
| Prothioconazole | Rapeseed | 0.2 |
| Prothioconazole | Garlic | 0.02 |
| Prothioconazole | Apricots | 0.3 |
| Prothioconazole | Cherries | 0.6 |
| Prothioconazole | Plums | 0.1 |
| Prothioconazole | Rice | 0.03 |
For pinoxaden, the regulation also confirms existing tentative limits that had been set for products of animal origin, moving them onto a permanent footing.
MRL revisions of this kind do not change whether a pesticide can be used in the EU, which is governed separately by active-substance approval and national product authorisations. Instead, they set the legal ceiling for residues allowed in food sold in the EU market, whether grown domestically or imported. For exporters outside the EU, including major fruit, grain and oilseed suppliers in Latin America, Africa and Asia, these limits function as a de facto trade standard: a shipment exceeding the new limit, even marginally, can be rejected at the border or trigger a rapid alert under the EU’s food and feed safety system.
Also Read: India: FSSAI Proposes New Residue Limits for Acetamiprid and Imidacloprid in Tea
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