1. Introduction

A Joint FAO/WHO Meeting on Pesticide Residues (JMPR) was held at World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland, from 20 to 29 September 2005. The Meeting brought together the FAO Panel of Experts on Pesticide Residues in Food and the Environment and the WHO Core Assessment Group.

The Meeting was opened by Mr Denis Aitken, Acting Director-General, Sustainable Development and Healthy Environment Cluster, WHO. On behalf of the Directors-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and WHO, Mr Aitken welcomed the participants and thanked them for providing their valuable time and expertise.

Mr Aitken noted that the JMPR plays an important role in the improvement of food safety on a global basis, by laying the scientific foundation for the development of international and national food standards. Mr Aitken said that the work of the Meeting was seen as an integral part in the safe use of pesticides to ensure food security and for overall sustainable development, and was also important in this context for the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. The methodological work of the Meeting in scientific risk assessment was important also for other areas within WHO and FAO, and the organizations now put great effort into translating the outcome of risk assessments made by expert bodies into recommendations to experts in other areas and to enforcement bodies. One example of the important methodological work of the Meeting was the recent publication of a guidance document on the setting of acute reference doses (ARfDs)^[1], which was expected to facilitate international harmonization in this area.

Mr Aitken discussed the challenges faced by the JMPR in times of increased need for independent international scientific advice but limited resources, and the need to clearly prioritize and be as efficient as possible. Progress had been achieved in recent years, including the ongoing activities regarding work sharing (the use of existing national or regional evaluations as a basis for the evaluation made by JMPR); the improvements within the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues regarding the revision of criteria for prioritization of requests for compounds for evaluation by JMPR, and the acceptance of the recommended JMPR maximum residue levels (MRLs) as temporary Codex MRLs.

Mr Aitken acknowledged the important contribution of the 38 participants from 19 different countries, and thanked the appropriate national authorities, institutes and organizations that had given participants the opportunity to work within this international programme and had provided, at least partially, infrastructure and salary during the preparation for the Meeting. He emphasized that without these contributions the programme could not work.

The speaker summarized the challenging tasks before the 2005 JMPR: the evaluation of 21 different pesticides (five of which were new compounds) as well as the consideration of several important general issues relating to the advancement and further improvement of current risk assessment procedures.

Mr Aitken reminded the participants that they had been invited in their personal capacities as international experts, and not as representatives of governments, institutes, or any other organization, and he stressed that the discussions held during the meeting were confidential until publication was authorized.

The Meeting was held in pursuance of recommendations made by previous Meetings and accepted by the governing bodies of FAO and WHO that studies should be undertaken jointly by experts to evaluate possible hazards to humans arising from the occurrence of residues of pesticides in foods. The reports of previous Meetings (see Annex 5) contain information on acceptable daily intakes (ADIs), ARfDs, MRLs, and the general principles that have been used for evaluating pesticides. The supporting documents (residue and toxicological evaluations) contain detailed monographs on these pesticides and include evaluations of analytical methods.

During the Meeting, the FAO Panel of Experts was responsible for reviewing residue and analytical aspects of the pesticides under consideration, including data on their metabolism, fate in the environment, and use patterns, and for estimating the maximum levels of residues that might occur as a result of use of the pesticides according to good agricultural practice. The estimation of MRLs and supervised trials median residues (STMR) values for commodities of animal origin was elaborated. The WHO Core Assessment Group was responsible for reviewing toxicological and related data in order to establish ADIs, and ARfDs, where necessary and possible.

The Meeting evaluated 21 pesticides, including five new compounds and five compounds that were re-evaluated within the periodic review programme of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCPR) for toxicity or residues, or both. The original schedule of compounds to be evaluated was amended for ethoxyquin, endosulfan and pyrethrins. For ethoxyquin, only its toxicology was evaluated as no residue data was received. The evaluation of endosulfan was postponed to 2006 as the residue data was received late and the Meeting agreed to conduct a residue evaluation on pyrethrins as sufficient data had been received.

The Meeting allocated ADIs and ARfDs, estimated MRLs and recommended them for use by the CCPR, and estimated STMR and highest residue (HR) levels as a basis for estimating dietary intakes.

The Meeting also estimating the dietary intakes (both short-term and long-term) of the pesticides reviewed and, based on this, performed a dietary risk assessment in relation to their ADIs or ARfDs. Cases in which ADIs or ARfDs may be exceeded were clearly indicated in order to facilitate the decision-making process by the CCPR. The rationale for methodologies for long-term and short-term dietary risk assessment are described in detail in the reports of the 1997 JMPR (Annex 5, reference 80, section 2.3) and 1999 JMPR (Annex 5, reference 86, section 2.2). Additional considerations are described in the report of the 2000 JMPR (Annex 5, reference 89, sections 2.1-2.3).

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Meeting learned with deep regret of the recent death of Professor Albert Besemer. Professor Besemer, a pesticide scientist of international reputation, made very valuable contributions to the work of the JMPR during more than 20 years. He is especially remembered for his preparation of the Codex Classification of Foods and Animal Feeds, used in many countries for regulation of pesticide residues, and also used continually by the JMPR.

The Meeting expressed its recognition to Dr Amelia Tejada, FAO Joint Secretary, at the end of her 6-year assignment in FAO. It was noted that during Dr Tejada's term of office the FAO Manual had been published and that several other initiatives had been started that aimed to address the increasing workload of the JMPR. Her warm, friendly and helpful attitude will be missed by all.