ABSTRACT
Many countries have regulatory authorities for assessing chemicals prior to marketing. There are normally separate authorities to deal with each type of chemical, eg pesticides, pharmaceutical products, industrial chemicals or food additives, and these have individual legal requirements for the information which must be provided in the regulatory submission. Chemical control legislation, its enforcement, and the associated official advice and voluntary industry codes of practice vary between countries. These systems for chemical control are being developed and improved, sometimes with a view to international harmonisation. In practice the supply, use and disposal of chemicals throughout their full life cycle is regulated in most of the developed world. Therefore, before marketing a new product, the manufacturer, for both product liability reasons and in order to meet various national and international legal requirements, has to establish not only the efficiency of the product to perform as required but also its hazardous properties, to ensure that it can be used safely.
