Question Period Note: PESTICIDE MAXIMUM RESIDUE LIMITS (MRLs)

• Pesticides are stringently regulated in Canada to ensure they pose minimal risk to human health and the environment. As part of the assessment process before a pesticide can be used on a food product, Health Canada scientists determine whether the pesticide residues that may be found in or on food will be a concern to human health, and determine the safe levels of residues, called Maximum Residue Limits, or MRLs.
• Health Canada sets science-based MRLs to ensure the food Canadians eat is safe. The MRLs for each pesticide-crop combination are set at levels well below the amount that could pose a health concern. If it is determined that a risk exists, the product will not be permitted for sale or use in Canada.
• During the summer of 2021, Health Canada received extensive comments during consultations for proposed changes to MRLs, in particular for proposals to raise the MRL for glyphosate on certain crops.
• The Pest Control Products Act (2002) provides robust protection of human health and the environment. However, some provisions of the Act now warrant review to ensure the pesticide approval process meets the expectations of Canadians in the area of transparency and sustainability. As part of targeted reviews of the Pest Control Products Act announced on August 4, 2021, Health Canada is pausing decisions on increases to MRLs until at least spring 2022. The announcement of August 4, 2021, also included funding that will allow the creation of a new expert panel process to provide advice, as appropriate, prior to evidence-based decisions on pesticides, including on MRLs.

KEY MESSAGES

• Our Government takes pesticide safety very seriously. Health Canada sets science-based Maximum Residue Limits to ensure the food Canadians eat is safe. The Maximum Residue Limits are set at levels well below the amount that could pose a health concern.
• Health Canada is strengthening its oversight and protection of human health and the environment. This includes enhanced transparency of decision making to ensure the pesticide review process meets the expectations of Canadians.
IF PRESSED ON THE IMPACT OF PAUSING MRL DECISIONS ON CANADIANS:

• If at any point, there are reasons to believe that a pesticide endangers human health or the environment, Health Canada takes action, including amending or cancelling the registration.
• Recently announced funding by the government will allow the creation of a new expert panel process to provide advice, as appropriate, prior to evidence-based decisions on pesticides, including on MRLs.
• Health Canada is committed to the openness and transparency of its regulatory decisions. The public will continue to be consulted prior to finalizing any major policy or regulatory decision.

• Before a pesticide is approved, it must undergo a rigorous scientific assessment process, which provides reasonable certainty that no harm, including chronic effects such as cancer, will occur when pesticides are used according to label directions. Under this registration process, results from more than 200 types of scientific studies must be submitted to determine if the pesticide would have any negative effect on people, animals (including birds and insects), or plants, including organisms in the soil and water.

• The results of these studies are evaluated by scientists within Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency, to determine whether a pest control product may cause adverse effects for the health of Canadians. This assessment takes into consideration sensitive sub-groups, such as pregnant and nursing women, infants, children and seniors. All pesticides registered in Canada, including agricultural, forestry and those intended for lawn and garden uses, undergo this level of scrutiny.

• After a pesticide is applied to a food crop, trace amounts of pesticide residues may stay in or on the food. Pesticides intended for use on food crops must be tested for the safety of these residues. As part of the assessment process before a pesticide can be used on a food product, Health Canada scientists must determine whether the pesticide residues that may be found in or on food will be a concern to human health, and determine the safe levels of residues, called Maximum Residue Limits, or MRLs.

• Canadian MRLs are set for each pesticide and crop combination, for an approved pesticide use. Canadian MRLs are; legally established as the highest amount of allowable residue, are set at levels far below the amount of pesticide residue that could cause health concerns, take into account all of the population including infants, children, and pregnant women, are set for all foods sold in Canada, whether produced locally or imported, apply to fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy products, grains, and some processed foods.

• In May 2019, the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations/World Health Organization (FAO/WHO) Meeting on Pesticides Residues (JMPR) recommended use of new glyphosate MRLs for consideration by the World Health Organization's Codex Alimentarius Commission. Bayer CropScience submitted an application requesting to align certain MRLs with those being proposed. In response to the application, Health Canada launched a public consultation on MRLs relating to the import of dry beans, dry peas and tree nuts in May 2021 on the proposed change.

• As announced on August 4, 2021, Health Canada is pausing decisions on increases to MRLs until at least spring 2022. This also includes funding that will allow the creation of a new expert panel process to provide advice, as appropriate, prior to evidence-based decisions on pesticides, including on MRLs.

• Global interest in maximum residue levels (MRLs) and regulation of glyphosate remains high following the classification of the chemical as a probable carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2015 (IARC). However, it should be noted that this assessment did not take real-world exposures into account.

• Contrary to the IARC findings, and consistent with Health Canada’s review, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s January 2020 decision concluded that glyphosate is not likely to be carcinogenic to humans. The European Commission also renewed the authorization of glyphosate for five years starting in December 2017 based on its own science-based risk assessments. The EU renewal assessment is currently underway, and in June 2021, the EU Rapporteur State Members (France, Hungary, the Netherlands and Sweden) submitted its draft assessment of glyphosate to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) for preparation of consultation documents to begin in September 2021.

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