ABSTRACT
Pesticides have been subject to legal regulations for a relatively long time, as one can see from the historical overview of policy in the United States. European Union (EU) Directive 92/32/EEC for the alignment of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the classification, packaging and labeling of dangerous substances is the leading guideline for chemicals legislation in Europe. The chemicals legislation of many countries—including the German Chemicals Law—distinguishes between new chemicals which are coming out on the market for the first time and so-called existing chemical substances. In the United States, pesticide use is governed by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act; pesticide sales are subject to the Toxic Substances Control Act. Since the early 1950s, various committees of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN have been working on the side effects of pesticides, often in collaboration with experts from the World Health Organization.
