Policy for Responding to Finding an Illegal Pesticide Residue Resulting from Treatment of a Commodity with a Pesticide Not Registered for that Use.

The Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) has developed the enclosed policy that outlines how DPR will address the “finding of illegal residues” in which a commodity was intentionally treated with a pesticide not registered for that use.

In August of 2005, an illegal residue of lambda cyhalothrin was found on strawberries grown in Watsonville. Lambda cyhalothrin is not registered for use on strawberries and there is no tolerance established (NTE) for residues on strawberries. It was suspected that the strawberries were intentionally treated with Lambda cyhalothrin in violation of Food and Agricultural Code (FAC) section 12648. In the absence of any express policy, the situation was handled pursuant to FAC section 12601 and the grower was allowed to attempt to recondition the produce. Other strawberry growers expressed concern that this allowed him to potentially benefit from the suspected illegal treatment.

The enclosed policy explains the differences between three FAC sections that apply to residue events and the step-by-step procedure for response pursuant to FAC section 12648. We are providing a copy of this policy to you so that you will be aware of how DPR will be responding to this type of incident in the future.

If you have any questions, please contact your Enforcement Branch Liaison.

Sincerely,