San José, Costa Rica.  FAO, in collaboration with the State Plant Health Service of Costa Rica, organized a Regional Training Workshop on FAO Pesticide Specifications, Residue Risk Assessment, and Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) Setting in San José, Costa Rica, from 17 to 21 November 2025. The event brought together around 40 experts and officials from Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, and Panama, aiming to strengthen technical capacities for pesticide quality control, residue monitoring, and risk-based decision-making aligned with international standards.

In his opening remarks, Costa Rica’s Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Mr Víctor Carvajal, emphasized the importance of upgrading technical capacity and pesticide management systems to support sustainable development and food security. Mr Guibiao Ye, secretary of FAO/WHO Joint Meeting on Pesticide Residue (JMPR) and Pesticide Specification (JMPS), inaugurated the workshop stating: “FAO specification and MRL are effective keys to ensure food safety, facilitate international trade and support food sustainable production” .

The workshop combined hands-on laboratory training with technical sessions on FAO pesticide specifications, impurity relevance, equivalence determination, and risk-based decision-making. A major highlight was the successful application of CIPAC methods for quality control of Mancozeb formulations—a critical achievement given that Mancozeb accounts for nearly 40% of pesticide use in Costa Rica and is widely applied in banana and plantain cultivation in central America, and reliable analysis of the pesticides has long been challenging due to its instability.

Participants also engaged in practical exercises on pesticide residue analysis, including complex residue definitions involving esters and conjugates, LC–MS/MS analysis of tomato, pineapple, and beans, and interpretation of results against Codex MRLs. Sessions on risk assessment and MRL setting introduced the international framework used by JMPR and guided participants through full decision chain-- from field trials and dietary risk assessment using IEDI and IESTI models to internationally harmonized MRLs.

By strengthening both analytical and regulatory capacities, the workshop equips countries to improve pesticide quality control, monitor residues effectively, and implement international standards for food safety. FAO will continue supporting national laboratories through follow-up training and technical assistance, contributing to safer agricultural practices and reduced risks for farmers, consumers, and the environment across the region.