Thank you.
I want to pick up on the issue of harmonization. I was headed that way in the last round and we ran out of time. I think you mentioned the challenges and opportunities for our products, which are presented for us first as an exporting nation. I think we all recognize how extremely important that is for our great farmers who not only put food on our table but also help to feed other nations.
However, there are challenges and opportunities there, and I think there is a lot of fear of the unknown, and the realm of the unknown is where misinformation can sometimes proliferate because of that vacuum of information. We certainly see that in other areas. You mentioned, for example, arsenic in food. That would raise the alarm. Nobody wants to be eating arsenic, but we have it in our drinking water. That takes us to discussions, which I want to head into in a moment, about the new testing procedures that can detect parts per trillion. You can detect almost anything anywhere under those circumstances.
The first thing I wanted to mention in this regard is the work that the PMRA is doing with, for example, the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States on a pollinator science risk assessment framework. We're working on understanding those types of questions, because I think we're all concerned about pollinators. Those of us who live on little hobby farms have our mason bees out there. My neighbour grows bees. We want to encourage and we value the bees for our fruit trees, and so on, even though we're not commercial producers. I think people are emotionally attached to those issues.
With regard to the OECD, I see that PMRA is working with Europe on looking at ecosystem guidance documents and harmonized international guidance for the use of pesticides. Our ecosystems aren't the same. I think our agricultural practices across Canada are different, which is what led to this concern about neonicotinoids and their use on different sizes of plants and different types and sizes of seeds. We have to adapt our technology, and we think that's a responsible response by regulators and industry.
We talk about a product we have lost in Canada, which was exported for years, and that was asbestos. We thought that was being used safely as long as it was handled and used properly. But in other parts of the world where they didn't manage the products properly, because they don't have the same standards we have, it became a huge problem in creating illness elsewhere, as well as practices here that weren't in place.
Mr. Loessin, you mentioned that changes in technology are happening very rapidly and new products are coming out rapidly, and it's a huge challenge to communicate what we're actually dealing with and to manage those risks because some real risks were anticipated. I just wanted you to comment on the international efforts and how important that type of engagement is. I think you mentioned it earlier, but I think we're beginning to understand that it's pretty important that we engage with our international community on advancing these issues of understanding crop management and product management.