Finally, after an assessment is made about the risk of the pesticide in the local situation, the registration authority should judge whether or not it considers that the risk is acceptable. Similar to bridging a risk assessment, the decision about acceptability can also be bridged. This is based on the risk assessment for the local situation on the one hand, and the decision made about acceptability of the risk in the reference country on the other (Table 3).

If the risk was considered acceptable in the reference country, and the risk in the local situation is lower or similar to the reference, then the risk in the local situation can also be considered acceptable. Similarly, if the risk in the reference country was considered unacceptable, and the risk in the local situation is similar or higher than in the reference country, the risk in the local situation is likely to be unacceptable too.

Sometimes, no clear-cut decision can be taken about the acceptability of risk in the local situation (Table 3). In such cases, further risk assessment is needed for the local situation.

Accepting a decision about the acceptability of a risk by the reference country is based on the assumption that the acceptability criteria of the reference country are applicable to the local situation. Often this has already been decided during the bridging assessment, when reviewing the (eco)toxicological reference values.

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