La R Gulation Des Nanotechnologies

This is an insightful collection by leading thinkers in both regulation and nanotechnology. It confronts new technological challenges with fresh regulatory insight. John Braithwaite, Australian National University Our growing ability to manufacture materials at the atomic scale will change our lives for the better, and tomorrow s nano-economy will outperform today s information age. Or so its proponents claim. Others maintain that a future dominated by commercial incentives risks a toxicological nightmare to rival the sorry global story of asbestos. This important volume is a timely contribution to increasing international calls to regulate nanotechnologies. By investigating the ways in which we could regulate these advances, and what we are learning from regulating existing technologies, such as biotechnologies and information technologies, the book debates the roles of government, business actors and the professions in protecting and enhancing the lives of citizens. In placing particular emphasis on the lessons of earlier technology advances, this book is unique in its broad consideration of the ethical, legal and social issues entwined within the development of the nanotechnology family. The multi-jurisdictional and interdisciplinary nature of the book will appeal to governments, academics, and civil societies across many parts of the world, while also remaining accessible to informed readers with an interest in nanotechnology and the policy and governance issues associated with technology development and regulation.

La régulation des technologies émergentes soulève, dans les pays industrialisés, des attentes considérables de la part des publics- riverains, salariés ou encore consommateurs - potentiellement exposés aux risques qu’elles font naître, tout comme des industriels explorant de nouveaux marchés, et aussi des pouvoirs publics, garants du développement responsable de celles qu’ils tiennent des sources cruciales pour la croissance économique du 21e siècle. Le cycle de vie des nano-produits a été scruté pendant trois années dans le cadre du programme NanoNorma par une équipe interdisciplinaire de chercheurs rassemblant des juristes de toutes spécialités, mais aussi des chercheurs en nanosciences et une entreprise du secteur des nanomatériaux, la société Arkema. Toujours en construction, leur cadre normatif s’illustre par l’hétérogénéité des normes engagées et la persistance de doutes forts quant à la stratégie normative la plus appropriée. Cet ouvrage dresse le bilan des efforts de régulation entrepris en France pour asseoir le développement responsable des nanotechnologies. Des brevets, nombreux, sur lesquels s’appuie leur développement, à l’information des consommateurs, en passant par la protection des salariés qui participent à leur production et de l’environnement, toutes les étapes de leur cycle de vie sont étudiées, de façon prospective, en s’appuyant sur les données les plus récentes de leur régulation. Se fondant sur une analyse comparatiste de ce bilan, les auteurs explorent ensuite les défis qui se dressent, pour l’avenir, sur la route des technologies émergentes appelées de ses vœux par la société de la connaissance européenne.

Le développement des recherches en nanosciences et nanotechnologies est un objectif prioritaire à l’échelle mondiale. Ces technologies sont en effet présentées comme un moyen privilégié pour accéder à la révolution industrielle du 21ème siècle. Dès lors, la course s’intensifie pour s’en approprier la primeur et, par voie de conséquence, les bénéfices économiques. Elles sont devenues le fer de lance de la compétition économique entre pays industrialisés, se situant pleinement, en cela, dans le cadre de la Stratégie de Lisbonne de l’Union européenne et les divers rapports publiés à leur sujet : nos recherches d’aujourd’hui feront – promet-on – nos richesses de demain. Les dossiers consacrés à cette question par le CNRS et le CEA en 2005 illustrent parfaitement l’implication forte des organismes de recherche français dans le financement et le soutien des recherches dans ce domaine. Ces dossiers témoignent également du déploiement, plus modeste mais bien réel, d’une réflexion informée sur les dangers et les risques liés à ces nouvelles technologies. Pour une partie de la communauté de recherche, ces risques, au premier rang desquels les risques sanitaires et environnementaux liés aux nanoparticules et nanomatériaux mis sur le marché, doivent être envisagés de manière distincte des politiques scientifiques et technologiques attachées aux nanosciences et nanotechnologies en général. Pour d’autres, ces deux thèmes ne peuvent pas être totalement séparés, particulièrement lorsqu’il s’agit de régulation. L'existence même de ces discussions illustre l'ambivalence des technologies émergentes, pour lesquelles le cadre normatif pertinent ne peut être que pluriel, intégrant, en amont et aux côtés des règles juridiques de droit positif, des normes moins visibles mais tout aussi cruciales, d'ordre éthique, sociologique et juridique. C'est ce clair-obscur normatif que des chercheurs en SHS se sont proposés d'explorer dans le présent ouvrage.

Existing laws have a generality that permits them to be applied to nanotechnology, but eventually it will be necessary to generate legislation targeted to issues specific to nanotechnology. As nanotechnology continues to develop into commercially viable products, legal doctrines are increasingly likely to play an important role in protecting intellectual property, facilitating financial transactions, and handling health, safety, and environmental issues. Nanotechnology: Legal Aspects provides thorough, yet comprehensible overview of different legal doctrines that are relevant to nanotechnology and explains how they may apply in the development, commercialization, and use of nano-products. The book is divided into three parts that correspond to the different phases in the lifecycle of nano-products: Protection, Regulation, and Liability. The in-depth coverage of these topics in a single source sets this work apart from others at the interface of law and nanoscience. Accessible to those without specific training in either nanotechnology or law... Nanotechnology: Legal Aspects offers a reader-friendly and affordable alternative that appeals to nano-aware audiences as well as legal professionals, students, and scientists who wish to build a greater understanding of the legal aspects of nanotechnology.

Food which nanotechnology has impacted or to which nanotechnology is applied is referred to as nanofood. From treatment of the soil in which a crop plant is grown to the caring of a food, nanotechnology is a growing factor in the food supply. At this point, however, there is no definitive, effective global method for regulating the use of nanotechnology as it relates to the food suply. Legislation on nanotechnologies is still evolving, as is understanding what data is needed for effective, efficient and appropriate risk assessment associated with nanotechnology impacted foods. Due to the emerging nature of nanotechnology and its role in the food supply, case-by-case studies are the current norm, but the need for wide-scale testing and broad-based regulatory standards is urgent. This project is based on an EFFoST study designed to provide a comparative study of nanofood regulations in order to guide regulation development in this rapidly expanding market. Provides comparative study of nanofood regulations in order to guide regulation development in this rapidly expanding market Includes both case-by-case examples and more broad-based insights Provides models for regulation specifically for regulating nanotechnology as applied to food

Ever since the discovery that very small particles of some substances evince different properties than the substances do in ‘bulk’ form, there has been an interest in developing ‘nanomaterials’ for commercial and industrial purposes. Although some nanomaterials exist in nature, most are chemically engineered for application in a wide variety of processes, ultimately entering the environment in many foods, drugs, cosmetics, clothing, sports goods, pesticides, packaging products and electronics, as well as in the particularly controversial form of tiny ‘machines’. Since the long-term effects of these new, laboratory-created materials and tools on health and the environment are unknown ; and as the particles are so small they can frustrate measuring and monitoring devices ; there has been a growing call for regulation of their use. This is the first book to offer a thorough analysis of the problems posed by nanotechnology in the context of existing legal schemes and trends, focusing on initiatives and debates in the European Union but also considering developments at the global level and in the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and China. Setting out how the current debate has arisen, how existing law deals with the issues arising around nanotechnology in areas such as patent rights and manufacturers’ liability, and how various international organizations are searching for some global consensus, the book addresses topics and issues including the following: patentability of nanomaterial products and processes; trade secrecy and nanotechnology; waste and disposal issues; occupational health and safety issues; international initiatives – OECD, FAO, WHO, UNEP and the International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM); intersection of nanotechnology with the most important fields of economic development; the extent to which exclusive rights have been registered over early developments in nanotechnology; the practical viability of pre-market toxicity investigation and postmarketing vigilance; contractual and tortious approaches to real or potential liability for harm; application of the precautionary principle in law and regulation; and political responses to existing legislation. Nanomaterials are already a commercial reality; the regulatory debate centres on the question of how to maximize the benefits they may offer while also limiting the risk from unforeseen hazards. This book clearly and comprehensively describes the range of issues relating to the legal framework and practicalities for commercial exploitation of nanotechnologies, and as such will prove of great value and importance to corporate counsel in many manufacturing sectors as well as to regulators and policy makers in environmental and trade law. Lorna is a partner in the London office of Bird & Bird LLP.

Nanotechnology has been the subject of extensive ‘assessment hype,’ unlike any previous field of research and development. A multiplicity of stakeholders have started to analyze the implications of nanotechnology: Technology assessment institutions around the world, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, re-insurance companies, and academics from science and technology studies and applied ethics have turned their attention to this growing field’s implications. In the course of these assessment efforts, a social phenomenon has emerged – a phenomenon the editors define as assessment regime. Despite the variety of organizations, methods, and actors involved in the evaluation and regulation of emerging nanotechnologies, the assessment activities comply with an overarching scientific and political imperative: Innovations are only welcome if they are assessed against the criteria of safety, sustainability, desirability, and acceptability. So far, such deliberations and reflections have played only a subordinate role. This book argues that with the rise of the nanotechnology assessment regime, however, things have changed dramatically: Situated at the crossroads of democratizing science and technology, good governance, and the quest for sustainable innovations, the assessment regime has become constitutive for technological development. The contributions in this book explore and critically analyse nanotechnology’s assessment regime: To what extent is it constitutive for technology in general, for nanotechnology in particular? What social conditions render the regime a phenomenon sui generis? And what are its implications for science and society?

This book investigates the role of law in confronting major societal transformations embodied by the emergence of nanotechnologies. Taking the case of the European Union, it explores who the key decision-makers in the regulation of nanotechnologies are and how they take decisions. The questions are explored through two distinct case studies: the food and chemicals sectors. The book charts an incremental retreat of the European Union to its executive powers, including 'soft law' measures such as agencies' guidelines or implementing measures. This, the author argues, results in the Union's fundamental democratic control mechanisms, the EU legislature and the Court of Justice of the EU, being circumvented. The book recommends several immediate proposals to reform EU risk regulation, advocating a greater reliance on the European Parliament and outlining measures to increase the transparency of guidance drafting by EU agencies. This important work provides a timely examination of how emerging technologies pose both regulatory and democratic challenges.