In March of this year, the NZFS proposed increasing the MRLs for glyphosate in wheat, barley, and oats from the current default value of 0.1 mg/kg to 10 mg/kg, and for dry peas to 6 mg/kg. It stated that the current limit of 0.1 mg/kg originated from the data submitted when the product was first registered, and recent residue monitoring of marketed grains found that some wheat samples exceeded this value, hence the proposal to reset the limit according to the "Good Agricultural Practice (GAP)."
However, after comprehensively reviewing 3,100 pieces of industry and public feedback, the NZFS decided to maintain the existing upper limit of 0.1 mg/kg for wheat, barley, and oats, and further restrict the use of glyphosate on arable crops. The reason is that over the past five to six years, the use of glyphosate in New Zealand has changed significantly, with growers and mills increasingly agreeing through contracts to have "zero or extremely low glyphosate residues," effectively prohibiting the application of glyphosate before harvest.
The MRL for dry peas will still be adjusted to 6 mg/kg as originally planned. This crop is grown on a relatively small area in New Zealand and is mainly exported to markets that adopt the same limits, so the adjustment aligns with international standards.