frances dimethoate-related restrictions on imports in july 2017 the chairperson noted that this concern was first raised in june 2016 as part of the concern regarding the european unions revised proposal for the categorization of compounds as endocrine disruptors. it was now being raised as a separate specific trade concern and would thus be so reflected in the ims. the united states reiterated its concern over actions taken by france to ban the importation of fresh cherries from countries that had approved the use of the pesticide dimethoate on cherries. the united states noted that the ban had not been based on a risk assessment of the safety of residues and that the measure had been renewed despite being inconsistent with the november 2016 efsa decision and the regulation approved in february 2017 by scopaff on mrls for dimethoate and its metabolite omethoate . the united states recalled that the european commission and a majority of member states deemed frances requests for a european emergency measure to be unjustified and highlighted that the measure had a significant impact on trade without achieving a significant public health benefit. the united states further added that the measure had only been notified after its implementation and after the us request. it had then been notified as an emergency measure without a specified comment period. finally the united states questioned the scientific basis for applying the measure only to fresh cherries when other commodities could also contain dimethoate residues. the united states expressed its willingness to exchange scientific information with france on the safety of dimethoate and its metabolites as well as to explore less trade-restrictive measures. argentina endorsed the statement of the united states highlighting the measures lack of scientific justification and that it was more trade-restrictive than necessary noting alternative measures such as the use of mrls and the monitoring of residues during import controls. argentina urged france and other members imposing pesticide-related restrictions to act in accordance with the sps agreement. canada echoed the united states and remained concerned about the renewal of a temporary restriction as a national emergency measure. canada recalled that in october 2016 and july 2017 it had asked france for evidence that the current mrl of 0.2 mg kg was insufficient to protect human health and for alternative appropriate levels of mrl for dimethoate. canada highlighted the lack of scientific evidence of the measures imposed by france and expressed its general concern regarding bans based on substance authorizations regardless of residue levels. canada urged france to conduct a risk assessment to justify the application of a more restrictive mrl than the one applied by the european union. the european union recalled that on 28 april 2017 france had introduced a protective measure suspending the importation of fresh cherries for consumption from member states and non-eu countries that had approved the use of the pesticide dimethoate on cherry trees. france had justified the measure because of unacceptable toxicological risks posed by the consumption of certain dimethoate metabolites. the european union clarified that france was particularly concerned by the identification of a possible acute risk by efsa leading to frances request to the european commission for emergency measures to ban the use of dimethoate for cherry trees. in the absence of eu measures france had introduced a national emergency measure. the european union finally indicated that new studies had been submitted to efsa for evaluation expecting a conclusion in spring 2018. the united states thanked the european union and looked forward to further bilateral discussions. the united states added that plant metabolism studies and toxicological data on relevant dimethoate metabolites had been previously submitted to and reviewed by the united states environmental protection agency epa and