The EC set maximum residue levels for diphenylamine in 2005. (Annex II and Part B of Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 396/2005). Diphenylamine was one of 84 substances of a European Commission (EC) review program covered by a regulation from 2002 requiring the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) upon EC request to organize a peer review of the initial evaluation, i.e. a draft risk assessment, and to provide the EC within 6 months with a conclusion. The assessment, received by the EFSA in 2007 started the peer review in October 2007 by dispatching it for consultation of the EC member states and the applicants, the two manufacturers, Cerexagri s.a., Italian subsidiary of United Phosphorus Ltd (UPL), and Pace International LLC. As a result of the peer review, mostly lacking data about risk to consumers, and particularly the levels and toxicity of unidentified metabolites of the substance, the possible formation of nitrosamines during storage of the active substance and during processing of treated apples, and the lack of data on the potential breakdown product of diphenylamine residues in processed commodities, the EC decided on 30 November 2009 to withdraw authorizations for plant protection products containing diphenylamine.(2009/859/EC)
The European Diphenylamine Task Force resubmitted an application to the EC with more data, and an additional report was received by the EFSA on 3 December 2010. EFSA concluded the risk assessment did not eliminate the concerns on 5 December 2011, published this opinion in 2012  and it became law in 2013.