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Heavy Metal Certified
Heavy Metal CertifiedRegulation references

Regulation references

Record of law

The government instruments HMTc certification standards cite, each with its heavy-metal maximum levels transcribed from the primary text into the Heavy Metal Index register. Each records the primary-source maximum levels a standard adopts when that jurisdiction binds a limit. None of them sets an HMTc threshold.

UPDATED 2026-08-07REGISTER-TRANSCRIBEDThe standards register

What this collection records

An HMTc standard adopts the strictest existing maximum level set by any credible government, applied cell-by-cell. That claim is only checkable if the underlying government values are published in one place, in the basis each instrument states, with the provision that carries them. These pages are that place.

39 instruments are tracked, spanning national and supranational food-contaminant law across every product matrix. 5 are currently cited by a published HMTc standard; the rest are recorded for register completeness, available as the program expands to new categories and jurisdictions. California Proposition 65 lists several of the eight metals as hazards but, as a right-to-know warning statute, sets no maximum level in food, and is recorded for that gap alone.

A reference page is a record of law, not an HMTc threshold. It states what a government requires; the standard page states what the program requires, and names which of these instruments binds each cell.

The instruments

Official titles are given in full, as cited. The count is the number of heavy-metal maximum levels the instrument sets across all its product categories.

Cited by HMTc standards
AU-NZ
Australia New Zealand Food Standards Codebinds 2
Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code – Standard 1.4.1 – Contaminants and Natural Toxicants, and Schedule 19 – Maximum Levels of Contaminants and Natural Toxicants
28
limits
BR
Resolução da Diretoria Colegiada (RDC) nº 722…binds 2
Resolução da Diretoria Colegiada (RDC) nº 722, de 1º de julho de 2022 (general principles, scope and analytical methods for maximum tolerated limits, LMT, of contaminants in food; revokes RDC nº 487/2021, which had replaced RDC nº 42/2013); numeric LMT tables set by the companion Instrução Normativa (IN) nº 160, de 1º de julho de 2022 (which itself consolidated and revoked IN nº 88/2021, IN nº 115/2021 and IN nº 152/2022), as amended by IN nº 351, de 18 de março de 2025
25
limits
CA
List of Contaminants and Other Adulterating S…
List of Contaminants and Other Adulterating Substances in Foods: Part 2: Maximum Levels (incorporated by reference into Division 15 of the Food and Drug Regulations, C.R.C., c. 870)
3
limits
CN
National Food Safety Standardbinds 1
National Food Safety Standard: Maximum Levels of Contaminants in Foods
20
limits
CODEX
General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins…
General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Food and Feed
6
limits
EU
Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/915binds 9
Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/915 of 25 April 2023 on maximum levels for certain contaminants in food and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006
109
limits
GSO
GSO 193:2021
GSO 193:2021: Gulf Technical Regulation: Contaminants and toxins in food and feed (Edition 1, 01/07/2021)
115
limits
IN
Food Safety and Standards (Contaminants, Toxi…binds 6
Food Safety and Standards (Contaminants, Toxins and Residues) Regulations, 2011: consolidated Compendium, Version IX
131
limits
UK
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 of 19 December 2006 setting maximum levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs, as it forms part of retained/assimilated EU law in the United Kingdom (Great Britain), as amended
16
limits
US
Guidance for Industry: Action Level for Inorg…
Guidance for Industry: Action Level for Inorganic Arsenic in Rice Cereals for Infants
14
limits
Wider food-contaminant register
CH
Switzerland VHK 817.022.15
Switzerland VHK 817.022.15 - metal and metalloid maximum levels
218
limits
HK
Hong Kong Cap. 132V
Hong Kong Cap. 132V - Food Adulteration (Metallic Contamination) Regulations
164
limits
IL
Israel Food Control Services
Israel Food Control Services - heavy metals and tin in food
162
limits
MERCOSUR
MERCOSUR GMC Resolution 12/11
MERCOSUR GMC Resolution 12/11 - inorganic contaminants in food
159
limits
PY
Paraguay Decree 1335/2019
Paraguay Decree 1335/2019 - inorganic contaminants in food
159
limits
VN
Vietnam QCVN 8-2:2011/BYT
Vietnam QCVN 8-2:2011/BYT - heavy-metal limits in food
136
limits
BA
Bosnia and Herzegovina Pravilnik
Bosnia and Herzegovina Pravilnik - food contaminant maximum levels
123
limits
SG
Singapore Food Regulations: heavy metals, ars…
Singapore Food Regulations: heavy metals, arsenic and lead
93
limits
TH
Thailand MOPH Notification 414:2020
Thailand MOPH Notification 414:2020 - food contaminant maximum levels
91
limits
MA
Morocco Joint Order 2410-22
Morocco Joint Order 2410-22 - food contaminant metal limits
89
limits
TT
Trinidad and Tobago Food and Drugs metal limi…
Trinidad and Tobago Food and Drugs metal limits
51
limits
CO
Colombia Resolucion 4506:2013
Colombia Resolucion 4506:2013 - food contaminant maximum levels
42
limits
PH
Philippines PNS/BAFS 194:2017
Philippines PNS/BAFS 194:2017 - contaminants and toxins in food and feed
37
limits
FJ
Fiji Food Safety Regulations 2009 chemical-co…
Fiji Food Safety Regulations 2009 chemical-contaminant limits
29
limits
UY
Uruguay Reglamento Bromatologico Nacional
Uruguay Reglamento Bromatologico Nacional - heavy-metal limits
23
limits
CL
Chile Decreto 977
Chile Decreto 977 - food and food-contact heavy-metal limits
19
limits
GY
Guyana Fisheries (Products) Regulations 2023
Guyana Fisheries (Products) Regulations 2023 - environmental contaminants
18
limits
CR
Costa Rica RTCR 409:2008
Costa Rica RTCR 409:2008 - fishery and aquaculture contaminants
15
limits
MX
Mexico NOM-186-SSA1/SCFI-2013
Mexico NOM-186-SSA1/SCFI-2013 - cacao and chocolate contaminant reference levels
10
limits
PA
Panama Decreto Ejecutivo 467/2007
Panama Decreto Ejecutivo 467/2007 - plant-product heavy metals
10
limits
PA
Panama Resolucion 368:2009
Panama Resolucion 368:2009 - fishery product contaminants
10
limits
MX
NOM-242-SSA1-2009
NOM-242-SSA1-2009 - Mexican fishery-products standard
9
limits
CU
Cuba NC 877:2012
Cuba NC 877:2012 - wheat flour metal contaminants
2
limits
JP
Japan MHLW 2008
Japan MHLW 2008 - tin in drink beverages
2
limits
EC
Ecuador NTE INEN 184:2013
Ecuador NTE INEN 184:2013 - canned tuna and bonito
1
limits
EU
EU Regulation 2018/73
EU Regulation 2018/73 - Mercury-compound MRLs in food and feed
1
limits
EU
EU Regulation 2022/617
EU Regulation 2022/617: Mercury Maximum Levels in Fishery Products
1
limits
US
FDA CPG 540.600
FDA CPG 540.600 - Methylmercury in fish and aquatic animals
1
limits
TR
Turkish Food Codex Contaminants Regulation 20…
Turkish Food Codex Contaminants Regulation 2023 - lead in raw milk
1
limits

Limits recorded, by instrument

2143 heavy-metal maximum levels across 39 instruments. A high count is breadth of product categories covered, not strictness; a single value from a narrow instrument can still be the strictest existing limit for a cell and bind the HMTc value.

CH
218
HK
164
IL
162
MERCOSUR
159
PY
159
VN
136
IN
131
BA
123
GSO
115
EU
109
SG
93
TH
91
MA
89
TT
51
CO
42
PH
37
FJ
29
AU-NZ
28
BR
25
UY
23
CN
20
CL
19
GY
18
UK
16
CR
15
US
14
MX
10
PA
10
PA
10
MX
9
CODEX
6
CA
3
CU
2
JP
2
EC
1
EU
1
EU
1
US
1
TR
1

How these interact with HMTc

HMTc certification standards adopt the strictest existing maximum level set by any credible government, applied cell-by-cell. Where an instrument holds the strictest value for a (product, analyte) cell, it binds the HMTc limit and the standard cites its page. These pages do not set or justify any HMTc threshold; they record the sovereign requirement the program measures against.

See a derivation that uses them
Each standard lists every government value side by side and names which one binds.
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40 items under this folder.