Data collection for the estimation of ecological data and residues on food items to be used in pesticide risk assessment for birds and mammals

To enable consistent and harmonised implementation of the requirements of Regulation (EC) No. 1107/2009 and its related regulations concerning the placing of plant protection products (PPPs) on the market, Guidance Documents (GD) are developed by the EU Commission and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The current EFSA Guidance Document (GD) for the risk assessment for birds and mammals (2009) follows a tiered approach. For the first tier assessment a range of scenarios have been developed. The scenarios are combinations of ecological characteristics of ‘generic focal species’ and other factors relevant to exposure, e.g. the type and structure of crop, and the type of formulation of the pesticide product (spray, granular, etc.). In addition, the GD provides a range of options for higher tier risk assessment, in cases where a low risk cannot be identified with the first tier risk assessment. The refinement steps may include: •the identification of specific focal species (FS, Figure 1 & Figure 2), •the use of measured residues and residue decline in FS food items, •field information on the composition of diet obtained from treated area (PD factor), and •field information on the proportion of an animal’s daily diet obtained in a real habitat treated with pesticide (PT factor).