new eu definition of the fungicide folpet in july 2018 china raised a concern on the new definition and mrl for folpet contained in regulation eu no. 2016 156. china explained that the regulation defined the residue of folpet as the sum of folpet and phthalimide whereas china stated that phthalimide was not only the metabolite of folpet and that folpet was not only the result of phthalimide which meant that the presence of phthalimide might be irrelevant to folpet. further china argued that the regulations residue definition for folpet did not comply with the codex definition. china noted that efsa had published on its website a notification on the period for public consultation on folpet and that its evaluation report recommended a revision of the residue definition for monitoring purposes. china encouraged the european union to issue relevant regulations to review the definition and mrls contained in the regulation. the european union replied that the current eu definition of the fungicide folpet was the sum of folpet and phthalimide expressed as folpet equivalents. the european union explained that the definition was so formulated because folpet was known to be extensively metabolised in plants to phthalimide as the only relevant metabolite and that phthalimide was formed by the degradation of folpet. however the european union indicated that internal discussions had been taking place to review the definition of the residue folpet in light of the findings that phthalimide might originate from several sources other than folpet. this would be considered during the on-going renewal procedure of the approval of the active substance folpet. the european union also added that efsa expected to finalize by 2019 a peer review procedure based on the draft renewal report prepared by the rapporteur member state. finally the european union expressed its commitment to kee china updated on further developments on this issue. in november 2018 china again raised its concern with the new definition and mrl for folpet contained in regulation eu no. 156 2016. the new regulation defined residues of folpet as the sum of folpet and phthalimide whereas china stated that phthalimide was not only a metabolite of folpet as it could also metabolize from phosmet or bentazone insecticides which meant that the presence of phthalimide might be irrelevant to folpet. further china argued that the regulations residue definition for folpet did not comply with the codex definition. china recalled that efsa had published on its website an evaluation report on a folpet public consultation recommending a revision of the residue definition for monitoring purposes. china encouraged the european union to issue relevant regulations to review the definition as early as possible in line with the codex definition. the european union recalled its previous intervention highlighting that the residue definition of the fungicide folpet would be considered during the on-ongoing renewal procedure of the approval of this active substance. the european union explained that a significant part of this process was the efsa peer review exercise to be finalized early next year. finally the european union expressed its commitment to kee china updated on further developments on this issue. in march 2019 china reiterated its concern about the new eu residue definition for the fungicide folpet. china explained that phthalimide was not only a metabolite of folpet as it could also metabolize from phosmet or bentazone insecticides and therefore the presence of phthalimide could be irrelevant to folpet. china indicated that the eu residue definition for folpet did not comply with the codex definition nor with chinas definition. at the november 2018 committee meeting the european union had referred to internal discussions on revising the residue definition for folpet. china queried about the progress of the revision process at efsa and requested that the eu residue definition for folpet