Peer review of the pesticide risk assessment of the active substance lavandulylsenecioate.

The conclusions of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) following the peer review of the initial risk assessments carried out by the competent authority of the rapporteur Member State Italy for the pesticide active substance lavandulylsenecioateare reported. The context of the peer review was that required by Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council.The conclusions were reached on the basis of the evaluation of the representative uses evaluated as a pheromone comprising manual applications to control Planococcusficus (vine mealybug) populations by mating disruption in table grape, wine grape, raisins and any other crops where P. ficus may be a pest in Southern Europe. The reliable endpoints,appropriate for use in regulatory risk assessmentare presented. Missing information identified as being required by the regulatory framework is listed.Concerns are identified.

Peer review of the pesticide risk assessment of the active substance kieselgur (diatomaceous earth).

The conclusions of EFSA following the peer review of the initial risk assessments carried out by the competent authorities of the rapporteur Member State Austria and co-rapporteur Member State Greece for the pesticide active substance kieselgur (diatomaceous earth) and the considerations as regards the inclusion of the substance in Annex IV of Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 are reported. The context of the peer review was that required by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 844/2012, as amended by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 2018/1659. The conclusions were reached on the basis of the evaluation of the representative uses of kieselgur (diatomaceous earth) as an insecticide and acaricide on stored cereals, empty storage rooms and storage rooms, mills and warehouses (with stored goods). The reliable end points, appropriate for use in regulatory risk assessment, are presented. Missing information identified as being required by the regulatory framework is listed.

Peer review of the pesticide risk assessment of the active substance garlic extract.

The conclusions of the EFSA following the peer review of the initial risk assessments carried out by the competent authorities of the rapporteur Member State, Ireland, and co-rapporteur Member State, Denmark, for the pesticide active substance garlic extract and the considerations as regards the inclusion of the substance in Annex IV of Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 are reported. The context of the peer review was that required by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 844/2012, as amended by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 2018/1659. The conclusions were reached on the basis of the evaluation of the representative use of garlic extract as a repellent, insecticide and nematicide on a wide range of crops in agriculture, horticulture, amenity. The reliable end points, appropriate for use in regulatory risk assessment are presented. Missing information identified as being required by the regulatory framework is listed. Concerns are identified.

Peer review of the pesticide risk assessment of the active substance 24-epibrassinolide.

The conclusions of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) following the peer review of the initial risk assessments carried out by the competent authority of the rapporteur Member State, Austria, for the pesticide active substance 24-epibrassinolide and the considerations as regards the inclusion of the substance in Annex IV of Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 are reported. The context of the peer review was that required by Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council. The conclusions were reached on the basis of the evaluation of the representative uses of 24-epibrassinolide as an elicitor on grapes, leafy vegetables, sugar beet and as plant activator on grapes and cucurbits. The reliable endpoints, appropriate for use in regulatory risk assessment are presented. Missing information identified as being required by the regulatory framework is listed. No concerns are identified.

Peer review of the pesticide risk assessment of the active substance rimsulfuron.

The conclusions of EFSA following the peer review of the initial risk assessments carried out by the competent authorities of the rapporteur Member State, Slovenia, and co-rapporteur Member State, Finland, for the pesticide active substance rimsulfuron are reported. The context of the peer review was that required by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 844/2012. The conclusions were reached on the basis of the evaluation of the representative uses of rimsulfuron as an herbicide on maize, potato and tomato. The reliable end points, appropriate for use in regulatory risk assessment, are presented. Missing information identified as being required by the regulatory framework is listed. Concerns are identified.

Peer review of the pesticide risk assessment of the active substance clopyralid.

The conclusions of EFSA following the peer review of the initial risk assessments carried out by the competent authorities of the rapporteur Member State, Finland, and co-rapporteur Member State, Poland, for the pesticide active substance clopyralid are reported. The context of the peer review was that required by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 844/2012. The conclusions were reached on the basis of the evaluation of the representative uses of clopyralid as a herbicide on winter cereals and grassland. The reliable end points, appropriate for use in regulatory risk assessment, are presented. Missing information identified as being required by the regulatory framework is listed. Concerns are identified.

Update: use of the benchmark dose approach in risk assessment.

The Scientific Committee (SC) reconfirms that the benchmark dose (BMD) approach is a scientifically more advanced method compared to the NOAEL approach for deriving a Reference Point (RP). Most of the modifications made to the SC guidance of 2009 concern the section providing guidance on how to apply the BMD approach. Model averaging is recommended as the preferred method for calculating the BMD confidence interval, while acknowledging that the respective tools are still under development and may not be easily accessible to all. Therefore, selecting or rejecting models is still considered as a suboptimal alternative. The set of default models to be used for BMD analysis has been reviewed, and the Akaike information criterion (AIC) has been introduced instead of the log-likelihood to characterise the goodness of fit of different mathematical models to a dose-response data set. A flowchart has also been inserted in this update to guide the reader step-by-step when performing a BMD analysis, as well as a chapter on the distributional part of dose-response models and a template for reporting a BMD analysis in a complete and transparent manner. Finally, it is recommended to always report the BMD confidence interval rather than the value of the BMD. The lower bound (BMDL) is needed as a potential RP, and the upper bound (BMDU) is needed for establishing the BMDU/BMDL per ratio reflecting the uncertainty in the BMD estimate. This updated guidance does not call for a general re-evaluation of previous assessments where the NOAEL approach or the BMD approach as described in the 2009 SC guidance was used, in particular when the exposure is clearly smaller (e.g. more than one order of magnitude) than the health-based guidance value. Finally, the SC firmly reiterates to reconsider test guidelines given the expected wide application of the BMD approach.

Peer review of the pesticide risk assessment for the active substance terbuthylazine in light of confirmatory data submitted.

The conclusions of EFSA following the peer review of the initial risk assessment carried out by the competent authority of the rapporteur Member State, the United Kingdom, for the pesticide active substance terbuthylazine are reported. The context of the peer review was that requested by the European Commission following the submission and evaluation of confirmatory data on groundwater metabolites. The conclusions were reached on the basis of the evaluation of the representative uses of terbuthylazine as a herbicide on maize and sorghum. The reliable endpoints concluded as being appropriate for use in regulatory risk assessment, derived from the available studies and literature in the dossier peer reviewed, are presented. Concerns are identified.