maximum residue levels of pesticides in october 2010 india referred to three eu notifications on the adoption of maximum residue limits mrls for certain pesticides g sps n eec 196 add.2 g sps n eec 196 add.10 and g sps n eec 382 within the framework of the eu revised plant protection regulation 1107 2009. ec regulation 396 2005 established the legislative framework for mrls of pesticides in or on food and feed of plant and animal origin which was notified by the european commission in april 2005. india was concerned that the mrls for a number of chemicals were set at the limit of detection lod . this was the residue limit which could be detected using analytical methods testing procedures available in europe. different climatic conditions in india required a different use of pesticides in agricultural production. no scientific evidence had been provided to justify the setting of the mrl at the lod especially for imported products. for some substances the mrls in eu cereals was much higher than the approved level of the same substance in rice. the setting of mrls at the lod had impacted indias exports of agricultural products to the european union and india requested the european union to provide the validated testing methods it used to arrive at the lod as well as the scientific basis and risk assessment for the mrls. india considered that the eu mrls resulted in the violation of articles 2.2 2.3 3.1 5.1 and 5.4 of the sps agreement. thailand shared indias concerns observing that in the recent eu notifications the proposed mrls for some chemicals were much lower than the levels set by codex. brazil and pakistan also shared indias concerns about the eu procedure for establishing mrls. the european union explained that the new legislation on pesticide residues was in place since 1 september 2008. mrls had undergone a common eu consumer intake assessment carried out by the european food safety authority efsa to make sure that all classes of consumers including vulnerable ones such as babies and children were sufficiently protected. the validated analytical methods used by the european union could be found on the website of the eu reference laboratories for residues of pesticides. the model used for estimating the dietary intake of 27 eu consumer groups was available on the efsa website. the risk assessment methodology used for setting the mrls came from the framework established by the codex alimentarius as described by a 2002 joint fao who meeting on pesticide residues jmpr report. an lod was set when there was a safety concern for consumers from the use of a pesticide at high levels or when there was no authorized use on a specific cro within the european union or third countries. the proposed revision of the eu mrls had been notified to the wto in 2003 2005 and 2007 and all wto members and stakeholders had also been informed about all the individual values that were proposed. the mrls were fixed and published in the official journal if no reaction to the notifications had been received. nevertheless applicants in and outside the european union could apply to have import tolerances set for higher mrls in specific cases. although the european union was aware of the different geo-climatic conditions in india data on the safety of imported products was still necessary. in march 2011 india stated that the european union had harmonised its pesticide residue levels under regulation no. 396 2005 on mrls for pesticides on food and feed of plant and animal origin. a default level of 0.01 mg kg had been applied on many chemicals and the european union had claimed that the mrls had been set at the level of determination lod . however without a validated test it was not clear how the lod was set and consequently the scientific evidence for the mrl had not been provided despite substantially higher levels for the same chemicals existing in other countries. india re-stated its concerns relating to i non- harmonization with international