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The 'perfect storm' of REACH: charting regulatory controversy in the age of information, sustainable development, and globalization

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  • Elizabeth Fisher

Abstract

The European Union's new chemicals regulation, REACH, has been one of the most controversial pieces of legislation in EU history. Indeed, the debate over REACH is akin to a 'perfect storm' in that the intense controversy over it has been caused by three regulatory aspects of the regime. First, REACH privatizes information collection, provision and assessment. Second, REACH represents a significant application of sustainable development and in so doing, redefines the conditions on which the EU chemicals market operates. Third, REACH will inevitably have inter-jurisdictional impacts for both supranational and national legal cultures including trade law implications, REACH being a template for international initiatives, it being a policy/legal irritant in other jurisdictions, and it providing information for public and private action in other jurisdictions. A charting of these different aspects of the regime not only provides a more nuanced account of REACH but also provides a clearer understanding of the challenges of regulating environmental and health risks in an era of market globalization.

Suggested Citation

  • Elizabeth Fisher, 2008. "The 'perfect storm' of REACH: charting regulatory controversy in the age of information, sustainable development, and globalization," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(4), pages 541-563, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jriskr:v:11:y:2008:i:4:p:541-563
    DOI: 10.1080/13669870802086547
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hood, Christopher & Rothstein, Henry & Baldwin, Robert, 2004. "The Government of Risk: Understanding Risk Regulation Regimes," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199270019.
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    Cited by:

    1. Justo-Hanani, Ronit & Dayan, Tamar, 2015. "European risk governance of nanotechnology: Explaining the emerging regulatory policy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(8), pages 1527-1536.
    2. Justo-Hanani, Ronit & Dayan, Tamar, 2014. "The role of the state in regulatory policy for nanomaterials risk: Analyzing the expansion of state-centric rulemaking in EU and US chemicals policies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 169-178.
    3. Mikael Karlsson, 2019. "Chemicals Denial—A Challenge to Science and Policy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-9, September.

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