Publication details
Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, September 2021
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| Document | Pages | File size |
|---|---|---|
NRS 2020-21 Industry brochure: Grains PDF  |
4 | 1.1 MB |
| NRS 2020-21 Industry brochure: Grains - Arabic PDF |
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| NRS 2020-21 Industry brochure: Grains - Chinese PDF |
4 | 1.2 MB |
| NRS 2020-21 Industry brochure: Grains - Hindi PDF |
4 | 1.1 MB |
| NRS 2020-21 Industry brochure: Grains - Indonesian PDF |
4 | 1.1 MB |
| NRS 2020-21 Industry brochure: Grains - Japanese PDF |
4 | 1.2 MB |
| NRS 2020-21 Industry brochure: Grains - Korean PDF |
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| NRS 2020-21 Industry brochure: Grains - Vietnamese PDF |
4 | 1.1 MB |
| NRS 2020-21 Industry brochure: Grains - Thai PDF |
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Online version
Key points
- In 2020–2021, the overall compliance with Australian standards was 99.5 percent.
- Australian grain producers and handlers continue to demonstrate a high degree of good agricultural practice.
- The National Residue Survey’s quality management system is ISO 9001:2015 certified.
The National Residue Survey (NRS) operates within the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment and since 1992 has been funded by industries through levies and direct contracts.
The NRS is an essential part of Australia’s pesticide and veterinary medicine residue management framework providing verification of good agricultural practice in support of chemical control-of-use legislation and guidelines.
NRS programs monitor the levels of, and associated risks from, pesticides and veterinary medicine residues and contaminants in Australian food products. The programs help to facilitate and encourage ongoing access to domestic and export markets. NRS supports Australia’s primary producers and food processors who provide quality animal, grain and horticulture products which meet both Australian and relevant international standards.
Grains program overview
Since 1993, the NRS grains program has been funded by the NRS component of the statutory levy on grains. The program involves the sampling and testing of Australian export and domestic traded grains for a range of pesticides and environmental contaminants. Representative samples are collected at export out-turn and domestic receival.
The program covers cereal grains (barley, maize, oat, sorghum, millet, triticale, wheat, wheat durum), pulses (chickpea, cowpea, faba bean, field pea, lentil, lupin, mung bean, navy bean, pigeon pea, soybean and vetch), and oilseeds (canola, linseed, safflower, sunflower). The milled fractions of wheat, wheat durum, soybean and maize are included in the milled grains program.
Sample collection
On average, approximately 6000 grain samples are collected per annum at bulk export terminals, container export packers, oilseed crushers, feed mills, flour mills, feedlots and food processors. The number of samples collected is influenced by Australian production levels and export markets. A breakdown of samples collected per crop group and sample program in 2020–21 is provided in Table 1.
Once collected, grain samples are freighted to the contract laboratory for analysis. All data collected is entered into the NRS Information Management System and residue testing reports are automatically generated for program participants.
Analytical screens
Analytical screens are developed in consultation with the industry and take into account chemicals registered in Australia, chemical residue profiles and overseas market requirements.
Grain samples are screened for a range of insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and environmental contaminants, as shown in Table 2.
Results
In 2020–21, a total of 5,445 samples were collected for analysis. The results were compared with the Australian standards and export samples were compared with the relevant international standards.
A summary of compliance with Australian standards for bulk export, container export and domestic trade programs over the past five years is provided in Table 3. The results highlight excellent compliance with Australian standards and demonstrate the strong commitment of the grains industry to good agricultural practice. The consistently high compliance rates help maintain the reputation and integrity of Australian grains in international and domestic markets.
The yearly summary datasets for the grains program are located on the department’s website
| Crop Group | Bulk export program | Container export program | Domestic trade program |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cereals | 2789 | 957 | 743 |
| Oilseed | 344 | 48 | 112 |
| Pulses | 114 | 308 | 21 |
| Total | 3256 | 1313 | 876 |
| Analytical screen | Chemical group | Analytes |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-residue pesticide screen | Insecticide | Over 90 analytes including acephate, abamectin, bifenthrin, diazinon, malathion, pyrethrin and spinosad |
| Fungicides | Over 55 analytes including azoxystrobin, boscalid, captan, iprodione, fludioxonil and propiconazole | |
| Herbicides | Over 55 analytes including atrazine, bromacil, clopyralid, isoxaben, norflurazon and simazine | |
| Organochlorines | aldrin and dieldrin, chlordane, DDT, endosulfan, endrin, HCB, heptachlor, lindane (gamma HCH) and mirex | |
| Specific herbicides | Herbicides | amitrole, dichlorprop-P, diclofop-methyl, diquat, fenoxaprop-ethyl, flamprop-M-methyl, fluazifop-p-butyl, glufosinate, glyphosate, haloxyfop, paraquat, quizalofop ethyl and quizalofop-p-tefuryl |
| Imidazolinone herbicides | Herbicides | Imazamox, imazpic, imazapyr, imazaquin, imazethapyr |
| Years | Bulk export program | Container export program | Domestic trade program | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samples collected | Compliance rates (%) | Samples collected | Compliance rates (%) | Samples collected | Compliance rates (%) | |
| 2016–17 | 4,166 | 99.8 | 3,755 | 99.0 | 892 | 97.3 |
| 2017–18 | 2,948 | 99.8 | 2,029 | 99.0 | 880 | 97.4 |
| 2018–19 | 2,426 | 99.6 | 979 | 98.3 | 854 | 98.2 |
| 2019–20 | 2, 211 | 99.7 | 1,130 | 99.3 | 890 | 97.7 |
| 2020–21 | 3, 256 | 99.9 | 1,313 | 99.1 | 876 | 98.9 |
Laboratory selection and performance
The NRS contracts laboratories to analyse animal and plant product samples for pesticide/veterinary medicine residues and environmental contaminants.
Laboratories are selected through the Australian Government tendering process on the basis of their proficiency and value for money. Laboratories must be accredited to international standard ISO/IEC 17025 at commencement of testing.
Contracted laboratories are proficiency tested by the NRS to ensure the validity of their analytical results and technical competence.
The NRS has been accredited by the National Association of Testing Authorities as a proficiency test provider since July 2005.
International export markets
The NRS maintains information on maximum residue limits (MRLs) that apply for Australia and major export markets for industries supported by the NRS. All analysis results are checked for compliance with Australian standards and relevant international MRLs.
For the Australian MRL standard see legislation.gov.au/Series/F2019L01105 (use the latest version).
For MRL requirements for some international export markets see links at agriculture.gov.au/nrs-databases.