This paper explores the role of the media agenda-setting in the public debate of recent Hong Kong food scare. Despite the government continuous efforts to ensure "safe food" in Hong Kong, including the establishment of Centre for Food Safety, Hong Kong media depicts a negative view of imported foods from mainland China. In 2006, poisonous vegetables, eggs and freshwater fish caught attention of the media, the general public and later the Legislative Council. The paper argues that the role of the media is important in food safety debate, not only because of its reports, but also of the exclusion of the general public from the discussion. It suggests that the stakeholders should take a better account of the media's interpretative/political power within the articulations of food safety debate, as the media remains the primary source of the information for the public, and as food safety belongs to a public-interest policy.

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In the study series, we have been making up strategies for reforming Japanese out-of-date legal systems concerning chemicals management. We consider here how to integrate Rio Declaration 15th Principle on Precautionary Approach into the legal systems referring to measures and activities taken by Governments of EU, United Kingdom and Canada. We also survey activities for strengthening capacities of evaluation and management of chemicals in United Kingdom and Canada in order to compare with those of Japanese government. Our main findings are 1) all of foreign governments provided unifying guidelines of precautionary approaches be applicable to all departments and 2) their provision of guidelines are part of governmental activities concerted with Agenda 21 adopted at UNCED in June 1992.

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The 20th Screening Information Data Set (SIDS) Initial Assessment Meeting (SIAM 20) was held at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) headquarters in Paris, France. The initial assessment documents of three substances (CAS numbers: 85-41-6, 97-99-4, 7632-00-0) at SIAM 20 were submitted by the Japanese Government with or without the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) and all of them were agreed at the meeting. SIAM 21 was held in Washington DC, hosted by the United States. The initial assessment documents of two substances (CAS numbers: 100-74-3, 107-18-6) at SIAM 21 were submitted by the Japanese Government with or without ICCA and all of them were agreed at the meeting. In this report, the documents of these substances are introduced.

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The 23rd SIDS (Screening Information Data Set) Initial Assessment Meeting was held in Jeju, Korea on 17th-20th October 2006. The initial assessment documents of 51 substances were submitted, and all documents were agreed at the meeting. The Japanese Government submitted the initial assessment documents of two substances, 2-ethylbutyric acid (CAS: 88-09-5) and 2-(2-aminoethylamino) ethanol (CAS: 111-41-1), and both documents were agreed at the meeting. The initial assessment documents of 2-(2-aminoethylamino) ethanol (CAS: 111-41-1) were prepared by International Council of Chemical Association (ICCA). This paper reports the summary record of the 23rd SIDS Initial Assessment Meeting.

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