restrictions on the importation of fruits and fruit juices brazil raised concerns regarding the european communities directive 2002 71 ce published on 19 august 2002 which established new maximum levels for dimethoate residues in and on cereals foodstuffs of animal origin and certain products of plant origin including fruit and vegetables. brazil noted that the ec directive would have the effect of banning brazilian orange juice from the european market and requested the european communities to review the directive taking into account all scientific information available. bilateral discussions held on the previous day had been fruitful and brazil requested a copy of the ecs scientific studies as soon as possible. brazil noted that the issue of mrls for dimethoate would be reconsidered by codex at its meeting in june 2003 and requested the european communities to suspend the implementation of this directive pending to a full assessment of the situation. brazil also requested the european communities not to apply the same approach in the re-evaluation of 320 active substances that was now underway. argentina bolivia cuba the dominican republic jamaica and uruguay supported the arguments made by brazil in particular the need for scientific justification for maximum residue levels mrls and expressed concern regarding the implications for developing country exports. the european communities stated that the document put forward by brazil had not yet been discussed in brussels. dimethoate was already under evaluation by the european communities and was one of the several hundred plant protection products which was being reassessed for its safety to the environment animal and public health. the decision to establish a limit of analytical detection had not been lightly taken but the scientific evidence suggested that the existing mrl was inadequate to provide for an appropriate level of health protection. a number of years ago a recommendation had been made to the codex committee on pesticide residues to withdraw the mrl for dimethoate. under the circumstances the european communities had considered it necessary to adopt this measure although this was not a popular decision because this substance was used by a range of ec growers of citrus and other fruit products and they were being obliged to withdraw its use. the measure had been notified g sps n eec 160 and that comments had been received and taken into account from a number of countries including brazil. the fears expressed by several countries over the impact of the ongoing evaluation of a range of other active substances would be communicated to the appropriate authorities. in april 2003 brazil stated that it looked forward to a receiving a copy of the ec scientific studies that would serve as the basis for the new european regulation setting mrls for dimethoate. in june 2003 brazil noted that a shipment of brazilian apples had been rejected in sweden and that this was one example of how it would be affected by the new mrls. the burden of proof for justification of the new measures was on the european communities and its present approach was not in accordance with the principles for special and differential treatment. china supported the concerns of brazil. the european communities stated that bilateral consultations had been held with brazil and hoped that the problem would be resolved soon. the underlying problem was that many pesticides and chemical products which were in use had never been properly evaluated. where no toxicological data existed the european communities would use the level of detection. for products for which data was provided the european communities would proceed to establish an appropriate maximum residue level.