Taiwan Revises Standards for Pesticide Residue Limits in Foods

On March 29, 2024, Taiwan unveiled the revised Standards for Pesticide Residue Limits in Foods (hereafter referred to as the Standards), with amendments to Appendix 1 of Article 3 and Appendix 5 of Article 6. The Standards came into effect on April 1, 2024. Major revisions include:

a. Removing 23 maximum residue limits (MRLs) for 3 pesticides

In accordance with Ministry of Agriculture's announcement regarding the prohibition of pesticides, the Standards removes 23 maximum residue limits for 3 pesticides including Chlorpyrifos, Dicofol, and Paraquat. Starting from April 1, 2024, for specific crops containing the 3 pesticides whose MRLs have been removed, they are granted grace periods during which they may still be manufactured, processed and sold if corresponding pesticide residues are compliant with the previous MRLs. The grace periods for specific crops are as follows:

• 3 months for fresh edible flowers;

• 1 year for fruits and vegetables, spices and herbs (incl. dry edible flowers);

• 2 years for dry beans (incl. pulses and oilseeds), coffee and cocoa beans;

• 3 years for rice, other cereals and tea.

b. Introducing 101 MRLs for 22 pesticides 

Examples of newly introduced MRLs for pesticides in crops

c. Adding the Chinese name “阿扶平” to the pesticide Afidopyropen

d. Including "Myoga" and "Pitaya Flower" to herbs and spices in the crop classification