SWEDISH CHEMICALS POLICY

Karlsson, M. (2006) The Precautionary Principle, Swedish Chemicals Policy and Sustainable Development. Journal of Risk Research 9, 337-360. 

Swedish chemicals policy recognises the ability of organisms to degrade or detoxify most harmful chemicals the terms non-toxic and free of man-made chemicals are not given detailed definitions. 

Swedish Chemical Policy Committee Towards a Sustainable Chemicals Policy, En Hallbar Kemikaliepolitick. Riskpanorama for kemikalier (with a summary in English), Fritzes, Offentliga Publilationer, Stockholm, Sweden, 1997. 

The official Chemicals Policy adopted by Parliament is not available in English. The analysis of Swedish chemicals policy has therefore been carried out on the most recent document relating to the Swedish chemicals policy, Summary of Documentation for In-Depth Evaluation of the Environmental Quality Objective of a Non-Toxic Environment [546] and the Swedish Environmental Quality Objectives [351]. 

Tetra Pak, the world s largest producer of food packaging, takes a similar stand "These two principles [precaution and substitution] are important principles in the Swedish national chemical policy and has proven to be a good basis for chemical control. Tetra Pak is therefore supportive to building the REACH system on these two fundamental principles. Precaution and substitution need to be Introduced early in the text as guiding principles for the whole policy""" ... 

SKANSKA, Sweden. Comments on the proposal for a new chemical policy in the European Union - REACH, 9 July 2003 Tetra Pak, Sweden. Comments on the proposal for a new chemical policy in the European Union - REACH, 9 July 2003 Construction Federation, Sweden. Position paper on REACH, 8 July 2003 Swedish Recycling Industries Association. Response to the European... 

Statens Offentiga Utrednlngar (SOU), Towards a Sustainable Chemicals Policy, Swedish Government Public Reports Series (1997) 84, plus Annex I (in Swedish). 

The Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences, the Royal Academy of Engineering Sciences, and other professional organizations scathingly criticized the committee s 1997 report Towards a Sustainable Chemicals Policy.7 Expert criticism meant little to the Minister of Environment at that time (now Minister of Foreign Affairs), Anna Lindh, who, in the case of the alleged dangerous properties of PVC, declared that she had more confidence in Greenpeace than in the Academy of Sciences. 

Swedish Chemicals Control, General Principles, Overarching Policies... 

To develop a strategy for achieving a non-toxic environment, the Swedish government established a Committee on New Guidelines on Chemicals Policy. The Committee primarily consists of academic scientists and KemI personnel. However, prior to publishing its official Chemicals Policy, the Swedish government required an analysis of the further need for control... 

While some experts may doubt the effectiveness of the Substitution Principle, the Swedish experiences have been positive. This section will account for chemical policies in Sweden, how public authorities promote the Substitution principle, and some of the success factors. 

The OsPar Convention for the North East Atlantic has set the generational goal of eliminating hazardous emissions within one generation, or by the year 2020. Such a timeline has also been adopted by the Swedish government in their new chemical policy and this provides a benchmark by which the transition to green chemistry and safer materials can be measured. No other country has detailed such a clear set of criteria and goals to achieve a nontoxic future. ... 

Indeed the principle has been enshrined in many international forums, particularly those that have set the generational goal to achieve the elimination of hazardous substances (Thorpe, 2003). The Nordic countries, in particular, have based many of their chemical policies round the principle of substitution. Most notable is the Swedish Chemicals Products Act of 1985, which puts the onus on anyone handling or importing a chemical to avoid chemical products for which less hazardous substitutes are available (Geiser and Tickner, 2003). 

After the end of World War II, science was a major organizing factor in Sweden s focusing attention on possible health and environmental risks from humans discharge of chemicals into the environment. For many decades, Sweden has been hailed as an enviable example of how effective environmental policies based on sound expertise can be implemented to the benefit of its inhabitants, and in many respects this reputation is well deserved. For instance, it is now possible to catch salmon from bridges in Stockholm, and a steady stream of delegations from other nations has arrived to learn more about the Swedish model for environmental protection. 

Swedish politicians more or less openly admit that the concerns of the most risk-adverse people, rather than objective measures of risk, guide their policies directed at chemicals. Such pol-... 

Swedish Ministry of the Environment, Sweden s Offensive Policy of Chemicals, Fact Sheet Number 6.1, ME, Stockholm, Sweden, 1997. 

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