Regulatory Principles
There are a number of sound principles that can be seen in the legislation of countries and regions around the world and many are reflected in the International Code of Conduct on Pesticide Management (published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO)). The following eight principles are commonly recognized and represent the scope of good regulation:
- a sound policy framework on which to base the regulation, which ensures high standards of use and protection for human health and the environment
- ensuring quality of data and transparency of the regulatory process, whilst providing protection of regulatory data, and safeguarding confidential business information and intellectual property
- international harmonization, where possible, but always taking into account local needs and conditions
- the application of scientific principles reflected through end use assessment (assessment of risk/benefit)
- commitment to responsible action of each party throughout production, supply and use
- a compliance monitoring system and an active response process to deal with adverse incidents
- a process to ensure modern standards are applied to all products in the market
- an impact assessment of any major changes to/revisions of the regulations.