When in the fall of 1982 the Chemicals Group of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)¹ assembles, it is expected to conclude more than two years of the Organisation's efforts to harmonize² the legal terms under which chemical testing has to be conducted in member countries.³ As more and more countries regulate the manufacture or marketing of chemicals,⁴ the need for international standards has been widely recognized. In September 1979, the Council of the European Community (EC) issued a directive commonly called the Sixth Amendment,⁵ which attempts to establish a supranational framework⁶ for consistent chemicals regulation. However, since some major chemical producers are outside the jurisdiction of the EC Council,⁷ EC harmonization efforts have a limited significance. Because of its broader membership, the OECD activity has attracted great interest.⁸ While the Organisation's preliminary efforts suggested that it would take strong action requiring member countries to mandate extensive testing by those wishing to market new chemicals, a shift in the United States' position seems likely to produce a less definitive action that will leave broad discretion to member countries in shaping their chemical testing rules.

Underlying these international efforts is the understanding that problems created by toxic substances are not confined to national territories, in part because they can travel across those boundaries when discharged as wastes into the air or rivers, and in part because they travel even more freely in international commerce. Perhaps, even more influential is the fact that differing national regulations can create non-tariff trade barriers,⁹ thus distorting competitive positions in international markets. At present, about 10 percent of total trade between OECD member countries is in chemicals, accounting for 90 percent of total world trade in chemicals or $100 billion in 1980. Eighty percent of all chemicals produced worldwide originate in OECD countries. In view of the considerable costs involved in chemical testing, international coordination could reduce the economic burden of regulation to government and industry, mainly by avoiding duplicative testing.