Northwest Horticultural Council

Country Alerts

Taiwan Increases Pesticide MRL Inspections

Current Situation: Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) has announced that it will increase pesticide MRL inspection of U.S. apple imports to 20-50% of shipments starting this week (March 15, 2021) for an observation period of six months ending on September 14, 2021.  If no further detections are made during this time, TFDA will revert to the standard testing rate of 2-10%.  If violations are found, TFDA will increase inspections to 100%. The Northwest Horticultural Council has received confirmation of the change in inspection levels from the American Institute of Taiwan (AIT).

Background: The three reported violations include two detections of the fungicide Penbotec (Pyrimethanil) and one detection of the insecticide Exirel (Cyantraniliprole).

The TDFA MRL for Pyrimethanil is 7 ppm.

There is no Taiwan MRL for Cyantraniliprole and therefore the default MRL is 0.01 ppm.

Contact: If you have any questions, please contact Northwest Horticultural Council vice president for scientific affairs, David Epstein, at 509-654-3713.

Updated: 3/18/2021

Northwest Horticultural Council

Country Alerts

Thailand is Banning Chlorpyrifos Residues on Imported Food  June 1, 2021

Current Situation: June 1, 2021 the MRL for both Chlorpyrifos will be the level of detection, 0.01ppm.

Background:

Contact: If you have any questions, please contact David Epstein, vice president for scientific affairs, Northwest Horticultural Council at 509-453-3193.

Updated: 11/3/2020

Northwest Horticultural Council

Current Open Staff Positions

• No Current Open Staff Positions

Northwest Horticultural Council

U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)

On September 30, 2018, Canada, Mexico, and the United States of America reached an agreement to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).  The new agreement, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), will enter into effect only after legislative approval in each country and at some future, yet to be determined, implementation date.

The Northwest Horticultural Council supports ratification by Congress of the USMCA. The trade agreement achieves the NHC’s principle negotiating objectives and provides a solid foundation from which Pacific Northwest tree fruit growers, packers, and shippers will continue their positive and overwhelmingly beneficial trading relationship with customers in these critically important countries.  

The text of the agreement may be found here.  A fact sheet describing the USMCA as it pertains to agriculture may be found here.