These guidelines apply without prejudice to any other provisions of the CAC establishing MRLs for pesticides on foodstuffs.

These guidelines aim to make use of the different criteria used by some countries and international organizations to decide that it is not necessary to establish MRLs for an active substance or a specific authorized use of an active substance because a risk assessment concludes that they are of low risk and low public health concern.

These criteria are presented in an attempt to provide a consistent and harmonized approach for determining when an active substance or its authorized uses could be considered exempt from the need for establishment of MRLs.

The guidelines do not cover uses of toxic substances that do not give rise to residues, for example use of fungicides or insecticides as seed treatments.

These guidelines are intended to be used by competent authorities in countries that do not have established criteria for MRL exemption for active substances or specific authorized uses of active substances in their respective legislation.