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U.S. Food Exports: Five Countries' Standards and Procedures for Testing Pesticide Residues

NSIAD-91-90 Published: Dec 20, 1990. Publicly Released: Jan 23, 1991.
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Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on: (1) U.S. efforts to prevent or resolve trade disputes over pesticide use; (2) four Pacific Rim countries' and Australia's procedures for setting tolerance levels and testing for pesticides on U.S.-exported produce; and (3) those foreign governments' technical capabilities for pesticide testing.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Agriculture To help reduce the likelihood and impact of future disruptions of U.S. agricultural exports caused by foreign concerns over pesticides, the Secretary of Agriculture should develop mechanisms for routinely providing U.S. trading partners with information on pesticides used on U.S. exported produce. Such information should include U.S. pesticide use patterns, tolerances, and sampling and residue testing methods.
Closed – Implemented
USDA is prepared to provide trading partners with available information concerning pesticide tolerances, and sampling and testing methodologies used in the United States. Full regulatory information on approved pesticides, permitted uses and residue tolerances are available.
Department of Agriculture To help reduce the likelihood and impact of future disruptions of U.S. agricultural exports caused by foreign concerns over pesticides, the Secretary of Agriculture should establish ad hoc technical working groups with more U.S. trading partners to address technical problems related to agricultural trade, such as pesticide usage, and to resolve disputes over differences in standards and testing procedures.
Closed – Implemented
USDA has established the Office of Food Safety and Technical Services as the primary contact point for inquiries relating to foreign standards, sanitary/phytosanitary regulations and quality and quantity complaints. In addition, the Office acts as the agricultural inquiry point for the GATT Standards Code.

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Topics

Natural Resources and Environment
Agricultural productsContaminated foodsExport regulationFood inspectionForeign governmentsForeign trade policiesPesticide regulationProduct safetyQuality assuranceQuality control