Nowadays, pesticide residues in agriculture products represent a serious worldwide problem due to the risks that can generate in consumers health, and constitutes a no tariff customs barrier for international commerce of agriculture products.

The origin of presence of illegal pesticides residues in agriculture products is result mainly of the no authorized use of these products in the field. In many cases, agriculture producers do not follow the recommendations of use specified on the product label regarding dose, number and frequency of administrations, use only on authorized crops, and compliance with safety intervals, which are necessary for an adequate use of pesticides, all these may result in commercial conflicts.

In Mexico, what was previously known about the not authorized use of pesticides, used to come from countries that imported agriculture products. They reject shipments containing pesticides residues that do not count with Maximum Residues Limits, or when these are above permissible limits.

Nevertheless, at national level there was no information about the presence of residues in agriculture products that would allow the detection of zones with higher occurrence of not authorized use.

Acknowledging the problem that pesticides represent in food safety when they are improperly used, the Mexican Federal Government, through the National Service of Agro Alimentary Health, Safety, and Quality (SENASICA), decentralized body of the Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock Production, Rural Development, Fishery, and Food (SAGARPA), implemented an annual program for the monitoring of field pesticide residues in different agriculture products. It was possible then to select zones or regions of the country that have the highest seed surfaces of agriculture crops with a background of illegal residues presence.

The General Head Office of Agro Alimentary, Aquaculture and Fishing Safety through the National Reference Center of Contaminants and Pesticides (CNRPyC) is responsible of the implementation and supervision of National Monitoring Program of Pesticide Residues on Agriculture Products, whose objective is the supervision of the compliance with the Maximum Residue Limits of authorized pesticides in Mexico by COFEPRIS.

The National Reference Center of Contaminants and Pesticides (CNRPyC) was established from 1991 in the City of Matamoros, Tam. as a center for reference, regulation, development of methodologies, and training regarding pesticide residues analysis.

The National Center is part of General Head Office of Agro Alimentary, Aquaculture and Fishing Safety (DGIAAP), which was created in the year 2003. Its creation was the response to the necessity of creating a governmental body with the responsibility of promoting agricultural and aquacultural food safety, their primary production and processing through the implementation and compliance of sanitary standards that are required by the domestic and international markets. This gives Mexican producers the tools to have a competitive advantage that allows a successful market positioning both nationally and internationally.

The fundamental purpose of the CNRPyC is to support the DGIAAP in the supervision of compliance with Maximum Pesticide Residue Limits (MRLs) in Mexican agriculture products; contributing with this in health protection of those who handle pesticides, the final consumer of agriculture products, and the ecology; furthermore, likewise, favoring domestic and international commercialization of agriculture products.

Supervise compliance of Maximum Pesticide Residue Limits (MRLs) in the field, in order to implement preventive and corrective measures that lead to agriculture food safety.

Help in regulation of approved laboratories and those in process of approval regarding pesticide residues analysis in order to assure their technical competence.

The National Center is part of General Head Office of Agro Alimentary, Aquaculture and Fishing Safety (DGIAAP,) as an area of the General Head Office of Agro Alimentary, Aquaculture and Fishing Safety. It is functionally structured as follows:

Address: Av. Canada S/N between Primera and Ontario, Col. San José.

H. Matamoros, Tamaulipas State, México. C.P. 87340.

Telephone and Fax Numbers: 01 (868) 8 16 20 91 and 01 (868) 816 26 08

E-mail: plaguicidas@prodigy.net.mx