Trade, dangers

SI 1992/337 Surface Waters (Dangerous Substances) (Classification) Regulations SI 1992/339 Trade Effluent (Prescribed Processes and Substances) Regulations SI 1994/1057 Surface Waters (River Ecosystem) (Classification) Regulations... 

Special provisions control specific dangerous substances likely to pass through the system into the natural environment. These Red List substances are defined in the Trade Effluents (Prescribed Processes and Substances) Regulations 1989 and shown in Table 13.18. 

In the United States of America, it is the leading imported commodity (52, 53, 103). In many of the producing lands, trade with the rest of the world depends on coffee. Horn (27) showed that the coffee market was recently dangerously understocked, and that coffee requirements will increase rather than decline. Prices have become high and are not likely to be low soon. 

In 2000, the European Commission issued a communication on the precautionary principle (EU 2000), in which it adopted a procedure for the application of this concept. The precautionary principle is not defined in the treaty, which prescribes it only once - to protect the environment. But in practice, its scope is much wider, beyond that of environmental policy, and, specifically where preliminary objective scientific evaluation, indicates that there are reasonable grounds for concern that the potentially dangerous effects on the environment, human, animal, or plant health may be inconsistent with the high level of protection chosen for the Community. The precautionary principle is implemented, for example, in the EU food law and also affects, among others, policies relating to consumer protection, trade and research, and technological development. 

During the first centuries of the opium trade, the drug became popular not only in Asia but in the Western world as well. In Britain, especially, opium became an extremely important product, both within the country and for its economic attributes abroad. For much of this time, the British attitude toward opium was much like our modern view of coffee. The English, along with much of the rest of the Western world, viewed opium as a luxury and a pleasantry, albeit a mildly addictive one. Like coffee today, opium was realized to be mildly addictive, but it was not seen as a dangerous narcotic. 

The creation of tougher national and international laws in the late twentieth century has resulted in a slight transformation of the opium trade. Laws have become stricter and limited success has been made in raising public awareness concerning the dangerous nature of opium and its constituents. The trade has not stopped, however it has only changed hands. In the past, the demand for opium created a large and complex distribution chain, complete with opium producers, suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and consumers. Today, that trade, while now primarily in the form of nonmedical pharmaceutical use and heroin, is equally complex and perhaps even more profitable than ever. 

In spite of all of the dangers associated with opium trafficking—the heavy fines, imprisonment, and possible death for the couriers—the potential profits of the trade remain too high to resist. As a result, the transport of opium remains a reality. 

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