Marchant Gary E, Sylvester Douglas J
Emerging Technologies, Law and Ethics, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, Arizona State University, USA.
J Law Med Ethics. 2006 Winter;34(4):714-25. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-720X.2006.00091.x.
Like all technologies, nanotechnology will inevitably present risks, whether they result from unintentional effects of otherwise beneficial applications, or from the malevolent misuse of technology. Increasingly, risks from new and emerging technologies are being regulated at the international level, although governments and private experts are only beginning to consider the appropriate international responses to nanotechnology. In this paper, we explore both the potential risks posed by nanotechnology and potential regulatory frameworks that law may impose. In so doing, we also explore the various rationales for international regulation including the potential for cross-boundary harms, sharing of regulatory expertise and resources, controlling protectionism and trade conflicts, avoiding a "race to the bottom" in which governments seek economic advantage through lax regulation, and limiting the "nano divide" between North and South. Finally, we examine some models for international regulation and offer tentative thoughts on the prospects for each.
与所有技术一样，纳米技术不可避免地会带来风险，无论这些风险是源于有益应用的意外影响，还是源于技术的恶意滥用。越来越多的新兴技术风险正在国际层面受到监管，尽管政府和私人专家才刚刚开始考虑对纳米技术采取适当的国际应对措施。在本文中，我们探讨了纳米技术带来的潜在风险以及法律可能实施的潜在监管框架。在此过程中，我们还探讨了国际监管的各种基本原理，包括跨境危害的可能性、监管专业知识和资源的共享、控制保护主义和贸易冲突、避免政府通过宽松监管寻求经济优势的“逐底竞争”，以及缩小南北之间的“纳米鸿沟”。最后，我们研究了一些国际监管模式，并对每种模式的前景提出初步看法。
