Recently, the Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Affairs, the National Health Commission and the State Administration for Market Regulation jointly issued the national MRL standard for veterinary drugs in food, GB 31650-2019. A total of 2197 MRLs for 267 veterinary drugs in animal products will take effect on 1 April 2020, essentially covering the veterinary drugs and animal products used in China.
These MRLs are enacted in the form of national food safety standard, which is a major amendment, supplement and partial replacement of the MoA Announcement 235 and the main features of these MRLs are as follows:
Compared with the MoA Announcement 235, 66 veterinary drugs and 643 MRLs have been newly added and the number of veterinary drugs exempted from MRL has increased to 66. The residue definition (residue substance), ADI (Acceptable Daily Intake), usages of existing veterinary drugs have been completely overhauled. For example, the uses of Ofloxacin and other 10 more veterinary drugs have been canceled or modified;
90% of the MRLs keep consistent with the CAC standard(Codex Alimentarius Commission) and some MRLs used in developed countries were converted through a full consideration on the actual situation of production and consumption in China, risk assessment under international practice and appraisal by WTO members;
MoARA will accelerate the development of veterinary drug MRLs and expects all veterinary drugs approved in China and animal food can be supported with MRLs and testing methods in the next 3 to 5 years.
