Mr. Chair, as I indicated in my opening remarks, the process that's supported by this legislation is a very rigorous scientific risk assessment, both for human health and for the environment. We take a completely science-based approach to our decision-making. It's based on a foundation of data and information requirements that spans literally 200 studies or more that must come forward in support of an application to register a new pest control product.
We do an extensive risk assessment that is very similar to the approach used by major OECD countries around the world. Major players, including Canada, work very closely together through fora such as the OECD to make sure that we're aligned in the data and information requirements and the science we must have in order to approve a new pest control product.
At the end of a very detailed, long, scientific assessment, we ensure that we don't have any unacceptable risks, that we know exactly how these products are going to be used in the real world, and that there are no unacceptable risks both on the human health side and on the environment side. Every pest control product has a very prescriptive label on how it absolutely must be used; it's a legal document. We have a very robust compliance and enforcement program as well in Canada, which ensures that any pest control products used are used within that framework.
I think Canadians can be confident that Canada, like major countries—like the United States EPA, which is kind of our counterpart—takes a very close and detailed look at a pest control product pre-market, before it gets into the marketplace, to make sure that it meets our standards of safety before it is allowed into the environment.