Conclusion on the peer review of the pesticide risk assessment of the active substance asulam

Asulam is one of the 84 substances of the third stage part B of the review programme covered by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1490/20023, as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1095/20074. In accordance with the Regulation, at the request of the Commission of the European Communities (hereafter referred to as 'the Commission'), the EFSA organised a peer review of the initial evaluation, i.e. the Draft Assessment Report (DAR), provided by the United Kingdom being the designated rapporteur Member State (RMS). The peer review process was subsequently terminated following the applicant's decision, in accordance with Article 11e, to withdraw support for the inclusion of asulam in Annex I to Council Directive 91/414/EEC. Following the Commission Decision of 05 December 2008 (2008/934/EC) 5 concerning the non-inclusion of asulam in Annex I to Council Directive 91/414/EEC and the withdrawal of authorisations for plant protection products containing that substance, the applicant United Phosphorus Ltd. made a resubmission application for the inclusion of asulam in Annex I in accordance with the provisions laid down in Chapter III of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 33/20086. The resubmission dossier included further data in response to the issues identified in the DAR. In accordance with Article 18 of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 33/2008, the United Kingdom being the designated RMS, submitted an evaluation of the additional data in the format of an Additional Report. The Additional Report was received by the EFSA on 06 November 2009. In accordance with Article 19 of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 33/2008, the EFSA distributed the Additional Report to Member States and the applicant for comments on 10 November 2009. The EFSA collated and forwarded all comments received to the Commission on 04 January 2010. In accordance with Article 20, following consideration of the Additional Report, the comments received, and where necessary the DAR, the Commission requested the EFSA to conduct a focused peer review in the areas of physical-chemical properties, mammalian toxicology, residues and ecotoxicology and deliver its conclusions on asulam. The conclusions laid down in this report were reached on the basis of the evaluation of the representative uses of asulam as a herbicide on spinach, as proposed by the applicant. Full details of the representative uses can be found in Appendix A to this report. Data gaps were identified in the section identity and analytical methods.