Taiwan Revises Pesticide Residue Limits in Foods

On March 11, 2025, the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) announced amendments to Appendix 1 of Article 3 and Appendix 4 of Article 5 in the Standards for Pesticide Residue Limits in Foods. The amendments came into force immediately.

Details of the amendments are as follows.

Introducing and revising maximum residue limits (MRLs) for 32 pesticides in 100 crops

Name	Crop	Updated MRL(ppm)	Previous MRL(ppm)	Function
Acrinathrin	Apple	0.5	0.1	Acaricide
Chlormequat	Grape	0.6	N/A	Growth regulator
Fluazaindolizine	Tomato	0.01	N/A	Nematicide
Penthiopyrad	Blueberry	5.0	N/A	Bactericide
……

Removing MRLs for 2,4-D and Captan in 6 crops

Name	Crop	Updated MRL(ppm)	Previous MRL(ppm)	Function
2,4-D	Other (vegetable and fruit)	N/A	0.02	Herbicide
	Other (cereal)	N/A	0.02	Herbicide
	Other (tea)	N/A	0.1	Herbicide
Captan	Other (vegetable and fruit)	N/A	0.01	Bactericide
	Other (cereal)	N/A	0.01	Bactericide
	Other (tea)	N/A	0.05	Bactericide

Specifying that when a MRL has been established for a specific crop, the MRLs applicable to its crop category do not apply

e.g., Afidopyropen has a MRL of 0.5 ppm as an insecticide in cabbage, which does not apply to Brussels sprouts where the limit is 0.4 ppm.

Adding Prothiofos to the list of prohibited pesticides in line with agricultural department announcement

ChemLinked Notes

In Taiwan, pesticide residues in foods (excluding animal products) shall comply with the maximum limits specified in Appendices 1 and 2 of the Standards for Pesticide Residue Limits in Foods. Pesticides not listed in these two appendices shall not be detected. However, pesticides listed in Appendix 3 are deemed highly safe and are therefore exempt from maximum residue limits and residue testing.