| 英文摘要 |
Scientific evidence plays an increasingly significant role inmodern governance especially involving risks brought by technologyand industry developments. In regulating international trade andtransnational activities relating to food risks, a variety of institutions,including the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Biosafety Protocoland the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), all require nations’regulations to follow scientific principles. The recent revised Taiwan’s‘Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation’ has incorporated the trendinto the law.The objectivity and neutrality of the expertise and scientific-basedgovernance are skeptical, and these has put the regular uncertainty ofscientific findings and inherent value judgement of scientists into question. The usual exclusiveness of expert governance and insufficienttransparency in the process has labeled the activities as democraticdeficit. This paper explores the mandate of how to balance theexpertise-based scientific assessment with the demand of publicparticipation.This paper will begin with the discussion of the background andimplications of honoring science-based governance with a view toclarifying the justification of applying the principle. Then, the limitationand problems of the principle would be disclosed. Finally, the paperanalyzes the necessity of incorporating democratic elements into foodsafety management as a balancing act that requires the enhancement oftransparency and public participation. |
