Regulation (EC) No 470/2009 provides for the establishment of maximum residue limits (‘MRLs’) for pharmacologically active substances intended for use in the Union in veterinary medicinal products administered to food-producing animals and in biocidal products used in animal husbandry.

Table 1 of the Annex to Commission Regulation (EU) No 37/2010 (‘Table 1’) sets out the pharmacologically active substances and their classification regarding MRLs in foodstuffs of animal origin. In relation to some substances, different MRLs are set out for different species or groups of species and for different target tissues of those species or groups of species.

Article 11 of Directive 2001/82/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council lays down rules regarding the treatment of food-producing animals affected by a condition for which no veterinary medicinal product is authorised in a Member State. In particular, paragraph 2 of that Article, read together with Article 29 of Regulation (EC) No 470/2009, provides that such animals may be treated with medicinal products containing pharmacologically active substances only if those substances are included in Table 1 of the Annex to Regulation (EU) No 37/2010.

The Commission is required to adopt detailed rules on the MRLs to be considered for control purposes for foodstuffs derived from animals treated under Article 11 of Directive 2001/82/EC. For specific target tissues of animal species treated in the EU under Article 11 of Directive 2001/82/EC, no MRLs may be included in Table 1 of the Annex to Commission Regulation (EU) No 37/2010. In order to ensure a high level of consumer protection, specific rules are needed to specify which MRLs apply in those cases. The rules should take into account the MRLs established under Regulation (EC) No 470/2009 for different animal species and different target tissues, for which a risk assessment has demonstrated their safety to consumers. Applying the existing MRLs to tissue-species combinations for which no MRL has been set, in combination with the application of the appropriate withdrawal periods or the default minimum withdrawal periods according to Article 11, provides sufficient guarantees for consumer safety.

For treatments under Article 11 of Directive 2001/82/EC it is most appropriate to refer to MRLs, which are established in Table 1 for species that have a similar anatomy and metabolism, in order to define MRLs, for residues of veterinary medicinal products in animal species not listed in Table 1. Therefore food-producing animal species should be placed into groups and related to each other according to the different anatomical and metabolic relationships between them.

Preferentially MRLs listed in Table 1 for the same target tissue in a related or more closely related species are considered and as a last resort the lowest MRL for any target tissue in any species.

In case in Table 1 restrictions are defined regarding the application of the MRL for certain uses, these restrictions apply also to possible uses on other animal species and/or target tissues.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,