The approach of the Joint Meeting on Pesticide Residues to the establishment of the acute reference dose for pesticides is presented and related issues are discussed. Three main points seem relevant when discussing the acute reference dose: (1) what compounds should have an acute reference dose, (2) what toxicological database is required for the establishment of an acute reference dose; (3) what safety factors are to be used. It is concluded that (1) groups of compounds that need an acute reference dose can be identified, whereas general rules for identifying groups not requiring an acute reference dose cannot be easily given; (2) studies from the standard toxicological database can often be used to allocate an acute reference dose and the usefulness of refinements (by requesting specific studies) should be evaluated after intake assessment; general rules on study requirements cannot be easily given; (3) more thought should be given to what safety factors apply in certain circumstances.