Thank you, Mr. Chairman and honourable members of the committee.
I'm Dr. Richard Aucoin, chief registrar of the Pest Management Regulatory Agency of Health Canada. I'm very pleased to be here today with my colleague Dr. Peter Chan, director general of health evaluation at the PMRA.
As Chief Registrar, I am responsible for the processes Health Canada has in place to review pesticides. My goal is to ensure that we are using the latest and best science available to make regulatory decisions, and that we do so in the most effective and efficient way.
I appreciate that the public and members of the committee are concerned about the safety of pesticide residues on their food, especially given the media coverage on this topic a few weeks past. As such, Dr. Chan and I are pleased to be here today to provide committee members and Canadians with more information about international regulatory cooperation and pesticide residue limits on Canadian food.
In our comments today, we will briefly describe our mandate for pesticide regulation, how Health Canada scientists establish human health standards for pesticides on food and the current international context for pesticide regulation and how it benefits Canadians.
Health Canada takes seriously its responsibility to protect human health and the safety of Canada's food supply. Our mandate in pesticide regulation is to register only the products that meet the strict standards of human health and safety and the environment under the authority of the Pest Control Products Act.
My colleague Dr. Chan will now briefly provide some information on maximum residue limits for pesticides in Canada, and specifically how they're established.