1. The purpose of these guidelines is to define and describe the performance criteria, which should be met by methods to analyse pesticide residues in foods and feed (hereafter referred to as food). It addresses the characteristics/parameters to provide scientifically acceptable confidence in the analytical method that is fit for the intended use and may be used to reliably evaluate pesticide residues for either domestic monitoring and/or international trade. 2. This document is applicable to both single residue methods and multi-residue methods (MRMs) that analyse target compounds in all food commodities per the residue definition. 3. These guidelines cover qualitative and quantitative analyses, each having their own method performance criteria. Performance criteria of methods for analyte identification and confirmation are also addressed.