CIEL Calls on Governments to Adopt Precautionary Mechanisms for Nanotechnologies

22 December 2009

Describing the current marketing of nano applications as a "life-scale experiment," CIEL Senior Attorney David Azoulay called for the establishment of governance mechanisms based on precaution and sustainability for nanomaterials at recent workshops organized by the United Nation Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The UNITAR-OECD awareness-raising workshops on nanotechnology, held in Beijing and Lodz, Poland, were intended to further the implementation of the Strategic Approach for International Chemicals Management (SAICM).

Representing civil society members of the International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN) nanotechnology working group, CIEL called on governments and industry to:

• Establish a global governance process for nanomaterials that is transparent, inclusive, equitable and driven by strong sustainability,
• Fund and conduct research on the human health and environmental risks of nanomaterials throughout their life cycle before nanomaterials can be sold commercially;
• Recognize the right to know and right to choose for consumers and workers in respect to nanotechnologies and nanomaterials;
• Recognize the right of countries to reject particular applications or uses of nanotechnologies and nanomaterials; and
• Engage all sectors of civil society in the development and establishment of coherent regulatory frameworks and research strategies for nanotechnologies and nanomaterials.

Please click here for the full text of the IPEN nanotechnologies working group briefing paper containing these demands.

Additional information on this series of workshops as well as presentations and documents can be found here or by contacting David Azoulay.

Additional UNITAR/OECD workshops are planned on January 26-27, 2010 for the African region and on March 12, 2010 for Latin America and the Caribbean.