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International Organizations and Nanotechnologies: The Challenge of Coordination
Author(s) -
Mbengue Makane Moïse,
Charles Margaux
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
review of european, comparative and international environmental law
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.37
H-Index - 18
eISSN - 2050-0394
pISSN - 2050-0386
DOI - 10.1111/reel.12033
Subject(s) - international law , action (physics) , order (exchange) , agriculture , precautionary principle , political science , sustainable development , international action , business , public relations , law , geography , microbiology and biotechnology , physics , archaeology , finance , quantum mechanics , biology
International organizations have been debating and monitoring the issue of nanotechnologies for several years. Five international organizations have been quite active in this respect: the Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Labour Organization, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the World Health Organization. Nevertheless, due to their different mandates, the actions of these international organizations have been rather fragmented. In particular, they have been unable to agree on whether a universal regulatory framework is necessary in order to better address the uncertain risks that may derive from nanotechnologies. Furthermore, they have not yet clearly identified the principles of international environmental law (e.g., sustainable development, precautionary principle) that should govern any action in the field of nanotechnologies. Despite this fragmentation, there are international efforts to foster coordination between international organizations, with the establishment of two important fora: the Inter‐organization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals and the Inter‐governmental Forum on Chemical Safety.