The precautionary principle and chemicals regulation: past achievements and future possibilities

The paper investigates the development of the institutional basis for the present modes of chemicals regulation and management, with special attention to interrelations with the precautionary principle.

The paper elucidates on how the precautionary principle has been shaped in relation to chemicals regulation and management since Carson's Silent Spring (years before the principle was confirmed as a policy-principle in German and European legislation. Furthermore, it is examined how the precautionary principle interacted with the development of the present chemicals regulatory regime, in a complex interplay within the OECD and Member Countries. The present modes of precaution in the new EU chemical legislation--REACH--are investigated with respect to the precautionary principle, and tested against two contemporary problems; brominated flame retardants and endocrine disrupting substances.

The analysis demonstrates the changing character of the integration of the precautionary principle. The main tendencies are from implicit to more explicit precaution and from a closed expert-orientation towards a more deliberative approach to scientific knowledge and uncertainty. The results demonstrate that the precautionary principle is manifest in both the design of the testing strategy and in policy provisions. In particular, the substitution of hazardous substances with less hazardous is important.

Despite explicit attention to the precautionary principle, is the present reformulation of the European Chemicals policy in danger of falling into loop-holes that equal problems related to the present regulation of existing chemicals? 'Precaution' has been reduced virtually to an abstract concept that is more or less devoid of practical meaning in the regulatory process.

It is concluded that the role of the precautionary principle in chemicals regulation will require continued scrutiny in the future shaping of the REACH strategy.

Continued development of robust and precaution-based chemicals regulation will have to involve both new data-generation strategies and new forms of political decision-making, with special attention given to transparency and deliberative policymaking.