Pesticides : limited testing finds few exported unregistered pesticide violations on imported food : report to the Chairman, Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, United States Senate

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO: (1) identified unregistered pesticides produced for export in the United States; and (2) determined whether these pesticides are returning to the United States on imported food, based on Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Department of Agriculture (USDA) residue tests.
GAO found that: (1) of the 27 unregistered pesticides U.S. manufacturers produce for export, 19 have never been registered and 8 have been fully or partially cancelled; (2) limited testing has found few violations of residue tolerances; (3) Mexican produce has accounted for over 50 percent of the pesticide violations on imported foods; (4) FDA does not test all 27 pesticides because some pesticides are not likely to leave a residue, the United States imports little produce from the countries where the pesticides are used, or it is unaware of their existence; (5) USDA has tested only 3 of the 27 pesticides because it lacks specific information on the health effects of the untested pesticide residues; (6) residues from unregistered pesticides may not come from U.S.-manufactured pesticides, since some unregistered pesticides are manufactured in other countries; (7) FDA lacks sufficient information to identify all exported unregistered pesticides and their use; and (8) FDA does not have sufficient reference standards and testing methodologies to test all unregistered pesticides.