Suchergebnisse

A number of zero tolerance provisions are contained in both food and animal feed law, e.g. for chemical substances whose occurrence is not permitted or is directly prohibited in food or animal feed. In the European Union, bans of this kind were introduced to give consumers and animals the greatest possible protection from substances with a possible hazard potential within the intendment of the hazard prevention principles and current precautionary measures. This also applies to substances for which an acceptable daily intake cannot be derived and a maximum residue limit cannot, therefore, be established, e.g. due to missing or inadequate toxicological data. Zero tolerances are also under discussion as trade barriers because their use has triggered numerous legal disputes. This paper draws together the results of an evaluation of alternative risk assessment methods to be used for the risk assessment of substances to which currently only zero tolerances apply. It will demonstrate that, depending on the available toxicological data, a scientifically sound risk assessment may still be possible. In this context, the two concepts - margin of exposure and threshold of toxicological concern - are very promising approaches. Until the scientific and sociopolitical discussions have been completed, it is essential that the principle of zero tolerances be upheld, especially for those substances which may be genotoxic carcinogens. In microbiology, there is no legal room for manoeuvre with regard to food safety criteria established for reasons of consumer health protection on the basis of scientific assessments

The development of larger technical systems relies on the coordination of autonomous action of a multitude of individuals and organizations. Institutional settings, often neglected in the analysis of technical development, help to achieve such coordination. Our analysis of international technical standardization in telecommunications highlights an institutionalized process aiming at the creation of compatibility standards as the means for coordination. Formal procedural, membership, and decision rules combined with informal sets of expectations constitute the normative basis of the CCITT, the most prominent international standardization organization in telecommunications. Although scientific, political and economic aspects can be equally important for standards, the CCITT selectively legitimizes a technical perspective. Political and scientific reasoning is restricted, an open economic perspective even completely banned, unless they can be translated into a technical perspective. This increases the capacity to proceed on a consensusal basis and often facilitates reaching a con-sensus in a controversy. Standardization of Videotex and Telefax empirically examplifies this, and at the same time demonstrates the limits of pure technical reasoning to resolve genuine political or economic conflicts. ; Die Entwicklung großer technischer Systeme hängt von der Koordination autonomer Handlungen einer Vielzahl von Individuen und Organisationen ab. Institutionelle Arrangements, oft vernachlässigt in Analysen technischer Entwicklung, erleichtern dies. Unsere Analyse internationaler technischer Standardisierung in der Telekommunikation behandelt den Prozeß der Vereinbarung von Kompatibilitätsstandards, die Koordination ermöglichen. Formale Mitgliedschafts-, Entscheidungs- und Verfahrensregeln sowie informelle Erwartungsmuster bilden die normative Grundlage der Arbeit des CCITT, der wichtigsten internationalen Standardisierungsorganisation in der Telekommunikation. Obwohl wissenschaftliche, politische und ökonomische Aspekte gleich wichtig sein können für Standards, begünstigt der CCITT selektiv eine technische Perspektive. Politische und wissenschaftliche Argumentation ist nur eingeschränkt zulässig, eine offensichtlich ökonomische Sichtweise sogar völlig unzulässig, es sei denn eine Übersetzung in eine technische Perspektive gelingt. Dies verbessert die Möglichkeit, auf Konsensbasis zu arbeiten, und erleichtert oft die Einigung in Kontroversen. Die Standardisierung von Bildschirmtext und Telefax liefert hierfür empirische Beispiele und zeigt gleichzeitig die Grenzen rein technischer Argumentation auf, um politische oder ökonomische Konflikte zu lösen.