Regulating Chemical Hazards in Japan, West Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and the European Community: A Comparative Examination

摘要

The report is an outgrowth of a National Research Council program initiative to gain a cross-national perspective on the role scientific information has played in hazardous chemical regulation. Although this study is not meant to be evaluative, it is designed to help assess by comparison the decision-making and regulatory mechanisms in U.S. hazard assessment. The chapters on the individual countries are divided into three components: (1) relevant political and administrative traditions which influence expectations about and mechanisms of hazard regulation; (2) a compilation of the relevant statuatory instruments; and (3) the scope of the regulatory jurisdiction. The last category divides the laws into those which govern industrial plants, emmissions and discharges, worker protection, industrial substances, poisons, agricultural chemicals, food additives, and contaminants, consumer products, transport, chemical waste, and victim compensation. The study concludes with a discussion of ways in which such multinational perspectives might be used to strengthen the regulatory process of the U.S.