Commission Regulation (EU) 2026/140 of 22 January 2026 amending Annexes II and III to Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards maximum residue levels for acequinocyl, chlormequat, metalaxyl-M, pyraclostrobin, sulfoxaflor and trifloxystrobin in or on certain products

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 February 2005 on maximum residue levels of pesticides in or on food and feed of plant and animal origin and amending Council Directive 91/414/EEC (1), and in particular Article 14(1), point (a), thereof,

Whereas:

(1) For acequinocyl, metalaxyl-M, pyraclostrobin, sulfoxaflor and trifloxystrobin, maximum residue levels (‘MRLs’) were set in Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 396/2005. For the active substance chlormequat, temporary MRLs were set in Part A of Annex III to that Regulation.

(2) As regards acequinocyl, an application requesting a modification of the existing MRLs was submitted for strawberries, pursuant to Article 6(1) of Regulation (EC) No 396/2005. As regards chlormequat, such an application was submitted for oats. As regards metalaxyl-M, such an application was submitted for honey and other apiculture products. As regards pyraclostrobin, such an application was submitted for sweet corn. As regards sulfoxaflor, such an application was submitted for okra/lady’s fingers, lamb’s lettuces/corn salads, escaroles/broad-leaved endives, cresses and other sprouts and shoots, land cresses, roman rocket/rucola, red mustards, baby leaf crops (including brassica species), purslanes, chard/beet leaves, watercresses, chervil, chives, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, basil and edible flowers, laurel/bay leaves and tarragon. As regards trifloxystrobin, such an application was submitted for table olives, olives for oil production, celeries, globe artichokes, leeks, herbal infusions from flowers, herbal infusions from leaves and herbs and seed spices.

(3) In addition, as regards trifloxystrobin in linseeds, an application for an import tolerance pursuant to Article 6(2) and (4) of Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 was submitted based on a use of that active substance in Canada.

(4) In accordance with Articles 8 and 9 of Regulation (EC) No 396/2005, all those applications were evaluated by the Member States concerned and the evaluation reports were forwarded to the Commission. The Commission forwarded the applications, the evaluation reports and the supporting dossiers to the European Food Safety Authority (‘the Authority’).

(5) The Authority assessed the applications and the evaluation reports, examining in particular the risks to consumers and, where relevant, to animals, and gave reasoned opinions on the proposed MRLs (2). It forwarded those opinions to the applicants, the Commission and Member States and made them available to the public.

(6) As regards all those applications, except trifloxystrobin in herbal infusions from flowers and in herbal infusions from leaves and herbs, the Authority concluded that the data were appropriate to derive or confirm the MRL proposals for the commodities under assessment. It is therefore appropriate to set the requested MRLs for acequinocyl in strawberries, chlormequat in oats, metalaxyl-M in honey and other apiculture products, for pyraclostrobin in sweet corn, for sulfoxaflor in okra/lady’s fingers, lamb’s lettuces/corn salads, escaroles/broad-leaved endives, cresses and other sprouts and shoots, land cresses, roman rocket/rucola, red mustards, baby leaf crops (including brassica species), purslanes, chard/beet leaves, watercresses, chervil, chives, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, basil and edible flowers, laurel/bay leaves and tarragon and for trifloxystrobin in table olives, olives for oil production, celeries, globe artichokes, leeks, linseeds and seed spices at the levels recommended by the Authority.

(7) As regards trifloxystrobin in herbal infusions from flowers and in herbal infusions from leaves and herbs, the Authority concluded that the risk for consumers is unlikely despite considering that two residue field trials do not fully meet the independence criteria as defined in the Technical Guidelines (3). In view of the fact that the two concerned residue field trials did not overlap in time and that they were conducted at different sites, a risk management decision is made to consider these trials as independent. It is considered appropriate to set the requested MRLs for trifloxystrobin in herbal infusions from flowers and in herbal infusions from leaves and herbs at the level recommended by the Authority.

(8) Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(9) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Annexes II and III to Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 are amended in accordance with the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 22 January 2026.

For the Commission The President Ursula VON DER LEYEN

(1) OJ L 70, 16.3.2005, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2005/396/oj.

(2) EFSA, Modification of the existing maximum residue level for acequinocyl in strawberries. EFSA Journal 2025;23(1): e9207, https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2025.9207;

Modification of the existing maximum residue level for chlormequat in oat. EFSA Journal 2025;23(4): e9385, https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2025.9385;

Modification of the existing maximum residue level for metalaxyl-M in honey. EFSA Journal 2025;23(3): e9296, https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2025.9296;

Peer review of the pesticide risk assessment of the active substance pyraclostrobin. EFSA Journal 2025;23(3): e9257, https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2025.9257;

Modification of the existing maximum residue levels for sulfoxaflor in various commodities. EFSA Journal 2023;21(12): e8481, https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2023.8481;

Modification of the existing maximum residue levels and setting of import tolerances for trifloxystrobin in various crops. EFSA Journal 2025;23(4): e9387, https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2025.9387.

(3) European Commission, 2020. Technical guidelines on data requirements for setting maximum residue levels, comparability of residue trials and extrapolation on residue data on products from plant and animal origin. SANTE/2019/12752, 23 November 2020.