| Speaker | Prof. Koji Fukuda, Director of the EUIJ Waseda |
|---|---|
| Date | 8 July 2009 |
| Time | 18:10 - 19:10 |
| Venue | Multi-Purpose Lecture Hall, Bldg. 26, Waseda Univ. |
| Language | Japanese |
| Note | Lecture at the DCC |
The activities of the Digital Campus Consortium (DCC) began in 1999 with the aim of furthering academic-industrial cooperation in the field of education. The DCC has engaged in the creation of academic databases and conducted e-learning experiments focusing on on-demand lectures. The Consortium also holds various events to promote communication among DCC members and Waseda University. The lecture series is held for that purpose and Professor Fukuda's lecture was one such lecture.
The theme of the lecture was EU regulation and consumer protection. As an expert on EU political studies, Professor Fukuda developed the lecture from an elementary history of the EU and its administrative mechanisms, to particular examples of consumer protection. Taking the examples of food problems such as BSE or vCJD, he showed how the EU had been treating the matter by conducting risk analysis, creating regulatory acts and cooperating with international bodies. His comparison between the EU and Japan, especially his explanation of how the Japanese government dealt with similar problems in a comparatively inefficient way, was illuminating.
He also discussed responsibility from diverse viewpoints. Mention was made of the preventive and precautionary principles as international rules, the issue of food traceability, and genetically modified organisms (MGOs), the effect of which is said to last for generations.
Finally he identified some policy recommendations that would improve consumer protection, including greater transparency of product information. The lecture was directed at business people who do not necessarily have a special interest in the EU, and the lively presentation and discussion of relevant topics proved highly attractive to the audience.
