MRLs, human health, and food safety:  Improving how we communicate about MRLs

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• Areas of improvement
• Learn more about PMRA Transformation

Areas of improvement

Part of Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency's transformation agenda is to improve our communication and the transparency of our decision-making. We've worked on 5 areas to improve how we communicate about maximum residue limits (MRLs), and have:

1. Updated and expanded web pages to explain:
   1. what MRLs are
   2. the science behind how MRLs are set and the role Health Canada plays
   3. the shared responsibility for food safety
   4. MRLs outside of Canada and their impact on food importation
2. Centralized this content, including linking to where you can directly access all MRL activities. This includes: 
   1. the MRL database
   2. consultations on proposed MRLs
   3. the Public Registry
3. Created a supporting infographic.
4. Initiated work to ensure proposed MRL consultation documents use plain language to improve understanding and transparency of our decision-making.
5. Implemented a process to notify the public when there is a new application to set or change pesticide MRLs to permit imports. Notices will help people be aware of these types of upcoming consultations. These notices will be posted on the Decisions and updates page.

Learn more about our transformation

The agency is undergoing a transformation process that will strengthen its oversight and its protection of human health and the environment. This process will also make our work more transparent to people in Canada.

Learn about our transformation process