Precautionary principle definition

A generally accepted definition of the Precautionary Principle has never been brought forward. According to a popular definition (Wikipedia 2006) The precautionary principle is a moral and political principle which states that if an action or policy might cause severe or irreversible harm to the public, in the absence of a scientific consensus that harm would not ensue, the burden of proof falls on those who would advocate taking the action. The precautionary principle is most often applied in the context of the impact of human actions on the environment and human health, as both involve complex systems where the consequences of actions may be unpredictable. ... 

Mill, J. S. (1844) On the Definition of political economy and on the method of investigation proper to it , in Collected Works, vol IV (1967), Toronto University Press, Toronto Meironyte, D., Noren, K. and Bergman, A. (1999) Analysis of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in Swedish human milk. A time related trend study, 1972—1997 , Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health Part A, vol 58, no 6, pp329—341 O Riordan, T. and Cameron, J. (eds) (1994) Interpreting the Precautionary Principle, Earthscan, London... 

Science and risk assessment, with all their flaws, take time, cost money, and leave some participants unsatisfied. The precautionary principle, which originated among German Greens in the 1970s, is offered as an alternative. It has no definitive definition. At least twenty can be found in treaties, laws, journal articles and books, and Cass Sunstein has placed them on a scale from weak... 

The many definitions of the precautionary principle do no more than provide comfort to those who think that the science and economics and politics that go into risk decisions can be put aside in favor of a magic bullet. There is no magic bullet. The precautionary principle(s) is (are) the product of philosophers considering the fate of the earth, and it is supposed to provide direction for decision making, including the use of science. With that in mind, it is worthwhile to recall the statement of the physicist Richard Feynman, Philosophers say a great deal about what is absolutely necessary for science, and it is always, so far as one can see, rather naive, and probably wrong. ... 

Improvement will not come from policies based on the precautionary principle or any similar principle, which ignores the specifics of different risks and the benefits that accompany the substance or process that is being examined. Good policy cannot be derived by skipping over the fact that we live in a world of trade-offs and that actions have consequences. A regulatory and policy system that produces greater value for society must have a foundation of credibility. Far better to emphasize science in the risk assessment process and to examine the process and evaluate how well it works than to chase after lofty aspirations embodied in a principle without definition. 

Nevertheless, many anecdotes and the few analyses of the application of the precautionary principle (PP) in developing countries point to a pattern of decisions that harm the cihzens of those countries.5 The PP, which lacks any consistent definition, can be paraphrased (and usually is) by saying that where there is a threat of harm from a technology, lack of scientific knowledge shah not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent harm. It is reasonable to everyone to look before you leap, but the practical interpretation of the PP in many Western country policies means that only looking is allowed, even... 

The basic premise of the Precautionary Principle is that decision makers should implement regulatory measures to prevent or restrict actions that may harm humans or the environment, even though there is incomplete scientific evidence to assess the significance of the potential harm. It has been used as an underlying rational in several international treaties and declarations. There are various definitions of the Precautionary Principle that are represented as better safe than sorry. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines it as, When information about potential risks... 

EPA definition of precautionary principle, http //www.epa.gov/OCEPAtenns/pterms.html... 

The European-Commission definition of the precautionary principle should be distinguished from the use of uncertainty factors during risk assessment or margins of safety during risk management46 [255]. Assessment factors account for assumptions made during the risk assessment process, such as when deriving no-effect levels. 

This aspect of precaution is taken as the working definition in the EU. Although three identifiable interpretations of precaution exist, they are not mutually exclusive (see Appendix 2.3). It is therefore more appropriate to consider various interpretations as aspects rather than versions of the application of the precautionary principle (Appendix 2.3). 

All definitions of the precautionary principle are similar, essentially stating that when there is uncertainty and credible evidence of a risk, then precautionary actions should be taken. The most widely used definition of the precautionary principle is the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, which states... 

Most of the current regulations in the United States are based on considerations of health and safety.80 In some cases, it has been necessary to use a precautionary principle and act when the problem is definite, but before the final scientific evidence is in, as in the Montreal Protocol for substances that deplete the ozone layer.81 As problems of... 

When considering such decisions in the face of uncertain data it may be necessary to take into account the impact of the precautionary principle. Whilst, scientifically, it may seem unsatisfactory to act decisively on unconfirmed risks - the need being for more data - some decisions may have to be made in advance of definitive data, and the precautionary principle is well-established in many areas of regulation. In particular, patients should not be expected to take a possible additional risk when there is no evidence of possible advantage in doing so. On the other hand, removing a drug from the market may mean that it becomes... 

The precautionary principle provides a justification for society to act on risks and uncertainty when scientific evidence is not available to determine that a risk is acceptably safe. One definition for the precautionary principle comes from the Wingspread Conference of 1998 ... 

The use of human health risk assessment versus use of the Precautionary Principle through REACH depends, to some extent, on the nature of the risk and associated regulation and the stage of some economically useful substance s life cycle. The Precautionary Principle by definition is most relevant and applicable to ante hoc control over new substances prior to their marketing and entry into the environment or for assessment of new uses for existing substances already released into human environments. Sequenced and compartmentalized risk assessment methods extant in the United States by definition are post hoc tools for dealing with ongoing or potential risks from substances already in the human environment. 

A tiered testing process will be phased in over a twenty year period, and is expected to cost industry approximately 2.5 billion, with an administrative staff of almost 200, to be paid for by a service fee levied on industry. Of major concern with HPPs is a fast track authorization provision for PBTs. As already noted in Sec. 24.3.4 above, HPP producers and importers must ensure accuracy of the definition of PBTs as (P-i-B-i-T)s or face the specter of across-the-board regulatory restrictions on their products due to exercise of the Precautionary Principle. 

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