The Challenges of Nanotechnology Regulation: Time to Move towards Global Regulations

Although the goal of technology is to facilitate human life and increase the welfare, emerging technology has challenges that can have short-term or long-term destructive effects on human life and other creatures. The greater and more widespread these effects and dangers, the more tangible the need to regulate technology by international law in response to a common global concern will be.  Nanotechnology, as an emerging form of technology, has enabled human beings to manipulate and engineer materials in molecular and sub-molecular dimensions. It is one of the most important technologies with many known and unknown dangers which must be regulated by legal rules. The present study seeks to answer the fundamental question of why, despite the rapid progress and astonishing speed of nanotechnology transfer from laboratory research to production lines and the commercialization of related products, the process of regulating this technology in international law is challenging, and if there is a solution to overcome this challenge. The primary conclusion of this article is that due to the global dangers of nanomaterials and insufficient human knowledge about their novel properties on the one hand and the inadequacy of existing treaties to cover nanomaterials on the other hand, the regulation of this technology should be aimed at risk management and precautionary approach.