일본 화학물질심사규제법의 법정책적 시사점

Abstract

At the end of 2006, the European Union(EU) adopted a comprehensive system for the regulation of industrial chemicals throughout Europe, which is known by its acronym, REACH, for Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemicals. The immediate impetus for REACH was to replace the complicated and confusing system of over forty different directives and regulations with a single regulatory regime. The implementation of REACH signals a fundamental shift in the way in which manufactured and imported chemical substances will be regulated within the E.U. Under the influence of REACH, Japan adopted amendments to the Act on the Evaluation of Chamical Substances and Regulation of Their Manufacture, etc in May 2009. Based on the experience of environmental contamination caused by PCB, the Act was enacted in 1973 to regulate new chemical substances before they are manufactured or imported for general use, to determine whether such substances have properties of persistency, high bioaccumulation potential and chronic toxicity, and to implement necessary regulations for manufacturing and importing chemical substances according to their properties. Under the amended Act of 2009, manufacturers or importers of chemicals are required to submit an annual report on the chemicals to the competent authorities. Through screening of reported existing chemicals, the competent authorities can determine “priority chemicals for assessment” and require further hazard and risk assessment studies from industries. Korea's Toxic Chemicals Control Act(“TCCA”) should be reviewed not only to achieve its purpose, preventing risk caused by chemicals to human health or the environment and controling hazardous chemicals so that everyone can live a healthy environment, but also to contribute to increase international competitiveness of related industry. TCCA should be amended to be more truly precautionary, to introduce a new registration and evaluation system enhancing the role of industry in chemicals data production, and to strengthen risk communication, including information sharing on chemicals through supply chain.