科学立法制止餐饮浪费的若干问题——“食物节约立法”专家笔谈

食物浪费问题受到全球广泛关注。国外已有不少国家通过法律加以全面调整。食物浪费现象产生的原因有科学技术、行为人主观因素、传统所有权制度固有缺陷等方面。我国食物浪费主要以大众餐饮食物浪费为主,在全社会必须形成节约光荣、浪费可耻的法律氛围。发生餐饮食物浪费的领域主要包括婚宴、“事件性宴聚”、商务宴请、朋友聚餐。我国虽有法律涉及食物浪费问题,但现行规定较为原则、分散,缺乏系统性、可操作性。对食物浪费行为进行法律规制是保障粮食安全、履行国际义务、节约资源、保护生态环境、升级整合法律规范的需要。应该制定一部专门性法律,将资源社会性理念和绿色发展理念融入立法,通过直接禁止、税收调整、消费引导等方式综合规制公共主体、公民个人这两类主要行为主体在食物生产、加工和消费各环节的食物浪费行为。立法调整的重点应该是食物和浪费食物的行为。     

国际水法对长江流域立法的启示和意义

随着长江经济带建设的推进,长江流域治理亟待法治化。由于调整对象、事项和目标方面的相似性,国际水法的理论、原则、规则和实践对于长江流域立法具有重要且有益的参考价值。长江流域立法面临着利益主体多元、生态环境和资源保护任务艰巨以及治理体制机制很不合理三个方面的巨大挑战。国际水法关于生态整体性路径、公平合理利用原则以及流域治理体制机制三个基本方面的理论、法律和指南以及实践,对于长江流域立法有效应对这些挑战具有重要启示。其意义体现在：直接促进长江流域治理的法治化,间接推进中国流域立法与国际水法之间的兼容性;直接示范国内其他流域,间接助推实现我国成为全球生态文明建设重要参与者、贡献者和引领者的战略。     

关于完善《中华人民共和国基本医疗卫生与健康促进法（草案三次审议稿）》的思考与建议:基于劳动力健康视角

基于劳动力健康视角,研究近期公开征求意见的《中华人民共和国基本医疗卫生与健康促进法(草案三次审议稿)》,为进一步完善提供技术支撑。依据循证决策的原理,针对法律草案的相关内容,梳理研究涉及劳动力人群和职业健康的国内外法律和实践。研究结果表明:保障劳动力健康的有关表述,在法律草案的总则、基本医疗卫生服务、医疗卫生机构、医疗卫生人员、健康促进5章仍需要强化,为此提出了14条具体建议和修改意见。     

Blood alcohol concentration in fatally injured drivers and the efficacy of alcohol policies of the new law on road traffic safety: A retrospective 10-year study in autonomous province of Vojvodina,Republic of Serbia

Objective: The aim of this study was primarily to evaluate inebriated fatally injured drivers (FIDs) according to blood alcohol concentration (BAC) in a 10-year period (2004–2013) in Autonomous Province (AP) of Vojvodina, Republic of Serbia, to analyze the efficacy of alcohol polices in the new law on road traffic safety through changes in the number of inebriated FIDs before and after implementation of the law, as well as to identify factors that influence the occurrence of FIDs with BACs above the legal limit.

Methods: All data for this retrospective study were obtained from the Centre of Forensic Medicine, Toxicology and Molecular Genetics of Clinical Centre of Vojvodina, Novi Sad. Autopsy records for each case included age, gender, BAC, type of vehicle, and date of accident (year, month, and recalculated day of the week). BAC was determined by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection. Statistical analysis was carried out by chi-square tests and Student's t test, with P < .05 as a statistical significance, and multiple binary logistic regression.

Results: Of the 354 inebriated FIDs (60% of all FIDs), the majority had BACs between of 0.031 and 0.3 mg/ml (28%), followed by those with BAC > 2.01 mg/ml (23%). The average BAC of those driving under the influence of alcohol (DUIA) for the whole period was 1.235 ± 1.00 mg/ml and the average number of DUIA/year was 35. Among the total number of FIDs there were significantly more males (93.7%; P < .001) than females (6.3%), though the distribution of intoxicated men and women was not different (P > .05). There was a statistically significant difference in the distribution of sober and inebriated FIDs according to age (P < .001) with the predominance of inebriated FIDs between 21 and 30 years. Although gender and age were found to be significant predictors of BAC above legal limit in FIDs, the area under the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve showed that the model had poor discrimination (ROC = 0.673). Of all observed FIDs, 65 cases per year were attributed to the first 5-year period (2004–2009) and 49 to the second 5-year (2010–2013) period, which indicates that there was no statistically significant decrease in the number of FIDs after implementation of the new law.

Conclusion: The highest number of intoxicated FIDs during the period in AP Vojvodina were mildly and completely inebriated. In the 4-year post-policy period (2010–2013), the number of FIDs and average BAC levels of inebriated FIDs did not significantly change. The abolition of a permissible BAC should be considered.     

The influence of alcohol on pedestrians: A different approach to the effectiveness of the new traffic safety law

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the effects of the new traffic safety law on pedestrian mortality by exploring hazardous behaviors of pedestrians in terms of alcohol use and blood alcohol concentration (BAC).

Methods: A retrospective autopsy study was performed, covering a 7-year period (from 2006 to 2012), including cases of fatally injured pedestrians who died at the scene of the incident. Blood samples obtained from the femoral vein during autopsy were analyzed for BAC. The entire sample was divided into 2 groups. The first included cases from 2006 to 2009, at which time the old traffic safety law was in force, and the second included cases from 2010 to 2012, under the new traffic safety law.

Results: A total of 247 cases were examined, covering a 7-year period. The average age was 57.5 ± 19.7 years (median 61.0 years) with a significant male predominance of 147 men to 100 women. This predominance also applied to alcohol use (54 vs. 13). The results show a significant decrease in the total annual number of fatally injured pedestrians, starting from 2009, compared to previous years, reaching a low in 2010, one year after implementation of the new traffic safety law. In contrast, the proportion of alcohol-intoxicated pedestrians showed no significant difference in the years preceding and following the new traffic safety law, nor did the annual distribution of BAC or mean BAC before and after application of the new law.

Conclusion: The present study indicates that the new traffic safety law has been quite effective in reducing pedestrian mortality. However, alcohol consumption and intoxication in pedestrians remains a fairly important factor in motor vehicle accidents involving pedestrians, because the proportion of pedestrians positive for alcohol, the proportion of severely intoxicated pedestrians with BAC > 1 g/L, and annual mean BAC have remained unchanged.     

Key Role of European Rabbits in the Conservation of the Western Mediterranean Basin Hotspot

Abstract: The Mediterranean Basin is a global hotspot of biodiversity. Hotspots are said to be experiencing a major loss of habitat, but an added risk could be the decline of some species having a special role in ecological relationships of the system. We reviewed the role of European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) as a keystone species in the Iberian Peninsula portion of the Mediterranean hotspot. Rabbits conspicuously alter plant species composition and vegetation structure through grazing and seed dispersal, which creates open areas and preserves plant species diversity. Moreover, rabbit latrines have a demonstrable effect on soil fertility and plant growth and provide new feeding resources for many invertebrate species. Rabbit burrows provide nest sites and shelter for vertebrates and invertebrates. In addition, rabbits serve as prey for a number of predators, including the critically endangered Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) and Spanish Imperial Eagle (Aquila adalberti). Thus, the Mediterranean ecosystem of the Iberian Peninsula should be termed “the rabbit's ecosystem.” To our knowledge, this is the first empirical support for existence of a multifunctional keystone species in a global hotspot of biodiversity. Rabbit populations have declined drastically on the Iberian Peninsula, with potential cascading effects and serious ecological and economic consequences. From this perspective, rabbit recovery is one of the biggest challenges for conservation of the Mediterranean Basin hotspot.     

CEN Standards for Testing and Certifying Personal Protective Equipment—Status Quo and Deficiencies: Examples

By establishing the internal market, the European Union intended to create an area in which safety and health at work are guaranteed. For this purpose, a series of directives was passed.

The EC Directive 89/686/EEC “Approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to personal protective equipment” is of particular interest to the manufacturers of personal protective equipment (PPE). On the European level, harmonized standards, that put these basic health and safety requirements into more concrete terms have to be available. The European Standardizing Committee (CEN) is charged with the elaboration of European standards.

A total of 176 standards relating to personal protective equipment have to be setup; 57 of them are available at present. All CEN members are obliged to transpose them without modification into national standards. Formerly existing national standards have to be withdrawn.

Existing European standards sometimes show deficiencies regarding the specification of requirements according to Directive 89/686/EEC: the standardization of PPE for special fields of application and insufficient harmonization of provisions for different PPE serving the same protective purpose. Test methods are not always described precisely enough.     

Towards better integration of environmental science in society: Lessons from BONUS,the joint Baltic Sea environmental research and development programme

Integration of environmental science in society is impeded by the large gap between science and policy that is characterised by weaknesses in societal relevance and dissemination of science and its practical implementation in policy. We analyse experiences from BONUS, the policy-driven joint Baltic Sea research and development programme (2007–2020), which is part of the European Research Area (ERA) and involves combined research funding by eight EU member states. The ERA process decreased fragmentation of Baltic Sea science and BONUS funding increased the scientific quality and societal relevance of Baltic Sea science and strengthened the science-policy interface. Acknowledging the different drivers for science producers (academic career, need for funding, peer review) and science users (fast results fitting policy windows), and realising that most scientists aim at building conceptual understanding rather than instrumental use, bridges can be built through strategic planning, coordination and integration. This requires strong programme governance stretching far beyond selecting projects for funding, such as coaching, facilitating the sharing of infrastructure and data and iterative networking within and between science producer and user groups in all programme phases. Instruments of critical importance for successful science-society integration were identified as: (1) coordinating a strategic research agenda with strong inputs from science, policy and management, (2) providing platforms where science and policy can meet, (3) requiring cooperation between scientists to decrease fragmentation, increase quality, clarify uncertainties and increase consensus about environmental problems, (4) encouraging and supporting scientists in disseminating their results through audience-tailored channels, and (5) funding not only primary research but also synthesis projects that evaluate the scientific findings and their practical use in society – in close cooperation with science users − to enhance relevance, credibility and legitimacy of environmental science and expand its practical implementation.     

The European Conformity Assessment Procedures and the Quality Assurance Instruments for Personal Protective Equipment in the Internal Market

Conformity assessment procedures prescribed by European legislation are presented and their concrete implementation is illustrated by the example of personal protective equipment (PPE). The different categories of PPE defined by Council Directive 89/686/EEC are explained with reference to the applicable conformity assessment elements. Quality assurance of production is presented as the central element of the conformity assessment procedure for complex PPE. Special emphasis is put on the necessity of having a regular exchange of views and information among notified bodies in Europe. Ways in which third countries can eventually carry out conformity assessment on the basis of a contract with the European Community Commission are explained.