The public regulation of industrial activities in order to guarantee the protection of health and the environment is one of the important, accepted roles of States, at both the national and international level.

In the chemical industry, for example, regulations in force are ineffective and information is lacking to identify dangerous products and take the necessary measures. This is what led the European Union (EU) to draw up the REACH regulation (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals). What lessons can be learnt from this initiative in terms of risk, expertise, and applying the precautionary principle in an industrial sector? What perspectives does it open up at the global level?

At the international level, the effectiveness of REACH will depend firstly on its domino effect in other parts of the world and secondly on its ability to build up an international expertise on chemical substances and their impacts.

IDDRI will extend the work undertaken on the regulation of chemical hazards beyond the European REACH framework.