Information Disclosure and the Regulation of Traded Product Risks

Various forms of information disclosure such as labelling requirements,hazard warning and prior informed consent are increasingly beingused in the regulation of products that are traded across boundaries.In the context of GATT/WTO jurisprudence, in particular, informationalmechanisms are seen as more likely to survive challenge thanmore traditional regulatory methods such as export and importbans. Even then, there may be legal problems, especially whereinformation requirements relate to production methods as wellas to the products themselves. There are a number of distinctnormative justifications for information disclosure includingthe right to make an informed choice, the need to secure consumertrust, the avoidance of market failure and the right to know.But these are difficult and contested concepts. The currentdebate concerning EU requirements for the labelling of GeneticallyModified products provides a compelling example of differentmodels at play, which can as a result cause confusion and dissatisfactionamongst different interest groups. Much greater clarificationof the justifications for information disclosure is requiredif their effectiveness as a technique for controlling tradeproduct risks is to be properly assessed.