The Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management: Lost Opportunity or Foundation for a Brave New World?

Numerous international instruments have been developed to promote sustainable chemicals management. However, until recently, a common overarching framework for sustainable chemicals policy was missing. The Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) was developed to address this challenge. This article will provide a short overview of the context and the negotiation process of SAICM, and it will give a short summary and assessment of its content. The article will conclude that SAICM is neither a lost opportunity nor the foundation of a brave new world of chemicals policy, but that it establishes a comprehensive institutional framework that can be further developed into an effective instrument of international chemicals policy.