Step 2. Find a reference risk assessment
Finding one or more appropriate reference risk assessments is an important step in the bridging process. Which risk assessment can be a reference for the local situation depends very much on the type of risk being evaluated. An appropriate reference to bridge a dietary risk assessment may be a country with similar diets; an appropriate reference to bridge an occupational risk assessment may have been conducted in yet another country. So there is usually not a single country or regulatory authority that can be selected as a reference. Some general guidance for the selection of a reference risk assessment:
- The reference risk assessment should have been conducted by an institution which you trust to conduct valid evaluations.
- The reference risk assessment should be accessible, i.e. published by the evaluating institution or authority. The Toolkit provides, in the Scientific Reviews module, links to reputable regulators and other institutions that publish their risk assessments.
- Alternatively, you may have a peer-to-peer agreement with the registration authority in the reference country so they will make available their evaluations directly to you.
- The pesticide evaluated in the reference country concerns the same active ingredient and the same or a similar formulation (but see step 4).
- If the reference situation concerns similar agronomic and environmental conditions as in the local situation, bridging is often easier to do. However, this is not a mandatory requirement (see step 6). It is important, though, that the agronomic and environmental conditions applicable to the reference assessment are well described so they can be compared with the local situation.
- The reference risk assessment report includes the details of the models and scenarios used for the risk assessment, as well as the pesticide application parameters, so that these can be compared with the local situation. The reference risk assessment should also contain basic chemical specifications of the pesticide product that was evaluated.