Monitoring pesticide residues in food of plant origin.

Economic crop production cannot be achieved without the use of pesticides. Pesticide residues express harmful effects on the biological systems and the environment. Especially dangerous is the presence of multiple residues which results in the appearance of different forms of combined toxicity with no predictable effects. There are well organized mechanisms for consumer health protection in developed countries, conducted through the legal standards in food safety, continuous monitoring of pesticide residues in food of plant origin, carrying out actions in accordance with the observed state and international cooperation. Regular monitoring of pesticide residues in food assures compliance of the principles of GAP and consumer risk assessment. By applying novel instrumental techniques with the low limit of detection (LC/ MS-MS and GC/MS-MS) significant progress has been made for the detection of some recently registered pesticides whose residues could not be detected by previous standard procedures. Up to now results of monitoring programs have shown that American consumers are under lower risk associated with the toxic effects of pesticides, and the percentage of samples with residues content above MRLs has been below 5%, both in America and the EU, with a trend to diminish. This is the consequence of abandoning the use of persistent compounds with high potential of bioconcentration and bioaccumulation, and switching on the use of less toxic and persistent pesticides which are more effective at lower concentrations, as well as the improved techniques of application. Developing and transition countries are confronting a number of problems in the mentioned field, such as a lack of adequate legal frame, absence of introduction of law in practice or its violation. Higher frequency of samples with pesticide residues above MRLs originating from the third countries is evident from the annual reports of developed part of the world, as well as from the separate reports of these countries, mainly without the coordinated and regular control. Due to the international pressure, higher standards in food safety and control have been implemented in some intensively developing countries. Serbia is in a transition period for applying PPP Regulation in accordance with the EU law, and there are no stable mechanisms of pesticide residues control at the market yet, meanwhile, a permanent border control of imported fruits and vegetables has been performed. Only one, single monitoring program at the national level as a part of the project of the Ministry for Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry, Direction for Plant Protection, under the name “Pesticide residues in food of plant and animal origin, soil and water” was conducted through the period 2004-2006.