TY  - GEN
TI  - Precision requirements in pesticide risk assessments: Contrasting value-of-information recommendations with the regulatory practice in the EU
AV  - public
ID  - heidok20214
EP  - 20
Y1  - 2016/02//
T3  - Discussion Paper Series, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics
KW  - risk assessment; pesticide; regulation; value-of-information; animal testing; uncertainty; active learning.
A1  - Goeschl, Timo
A1  - Heyen, Daniel
N2  - Pesticides, while rendering immense agricultural benefits, potentially entail risks to human health and the environment. To limit these risks, market approval of a pesticide is typically conditional on an extensive risk assessment demonstrating its safety. The associated testing procedures, often involving significant numbers of animals, however are not only costly; as has become apparent from recent discussions about the active substance glyphosate, testing is often incapable of providing definitive answers on concerns like human carcinogenicity. An important regulatory task, whether explicitly acknowledged or not, is hence to decide what level of remaining uncertainty is deemed acceptable in making the final market approval decision. Economic principles suggest a value-of-information (VoI) approach for this informational task. After presenting the basics of the VoI framework, this paper analyzes the actual regulatory practice in the EU's pesticide approval process, pointing out the defaults and substance-specific procedures that shape the precision
of the European Food Safety Authority's (EFSA) risk assessment and hence the level of knowledge under which the European Commission decides on the approval of substances. The comparison between theory and practice uncovers substantial deviations, providing valuable insights for restructuring the risk assessment guidelines.
UR  - https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/20214/
CY  - Heidelberg
ER  -