Mr. Chairman, the scientific approach we use to protect human health has two main components; one identifies potential health effects and the other identifies exposure, of specific interest today, through the ingestion of pesticide residues on food. Together these two components are used to identify potential risks to human health and what is required to protect people from those risks.
Pesticides are stringently regulated in Canada according to modern internationally recognized scientific risk assessment methods before they are approved for use or sale in Canada. The scientific methodology used to set maximum residue limits on food is well established internationally.
Maximum residue limits are set in Canada's food and drug regulations as the maximum level of pesticide residue permitted on domestic and imported food. Health Canada establishes maximum residue limits as part of the extensive assessments conducted on each pesticide product before it is registered for use in Canada. In fact, maximum residue limits are set for each pesticide and food crop combination.
Maximum residue limits represent the maximum residues expected to be left on food at harvest at the approved application rate. They are established only after a dietary risk assessment has confirmed that any pesticide residues likely to remain on food when it is eaten will not pose health concerns for anyone.
Health Canada pays special attention to ensure that people who are more sensitive, such as children, pregnant women, and seniors, are not at risk. In other words, the exposure to pesticide residues through consumption of food over a lifetime must be lower than the exposure that is determined to be acceptable.
It is important to note that maximum residue limits do not represent limits above which residues may be harmful to humans. The actual human health standard is the acceptable daily intake, which has already been determined as the amount of pesticide that can be consumed each day without risk for an entire lifetime.
On the other hand, maximum residue limits do act as a trigger for further evaluation if they are exceeded. If a food has a residue level higher than that of the established maximum residue limit, our colleagues, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, would notify us if they felt there were any health concern.
Dr. Richard Aucoin will now discuss the international context for pesticide regulation.
Thank you.