Risk management is the process of weighting policy alternatives to accept, minimize or reduce the assessed risk and, on the basis of this process, to select and implement the appropriate option regarding prevention, control or regulation measures.

In this context the Screening Limit is therefore not quantitatively identical to the non-effect level of the medication but a value related to it, via an ordinal scale, that takes into account the specific factors considered in risk management in this situation. These factors include the extent of use of the drug in equine veterinary practice and its potential to affect the welfare of the horse or to improve its performance.

This process is a fundamentally different approach to simply permitting medication or particular drugs, but it still allows horse welfare and treatment needs to be considered in the context of assuring integrity.