Global information network on chemicals (GINC) and its Asian component.

The Global Information Network on Chemicals (GINC) is an effort to build a global information network that links international, national, and other organizations working for the safe management of chemicals in order to exchange information and improve communications. The project was originally proposed in 1993 by one of the authors then at the National Institute of Health Sciences (NIHS) of Japan to the International Program on Chemical Safety (IPCS), which is a joint project of World Health Organization (WHO), International Labor Organization (ILO), and United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). The base support system was first implemented at NIHS using the Internet/World Wide Web (WWW) technology in 1995. The project was then endorsed by the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS) and was adopted by the Inter-Organization Program for the Sound Management of Chemicals (IOMC). However, the base system (http://www.nihs.go.jp/GINC/index.html) has been developed and maintained solely by the NIHS group under the support of the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MHW), Japan. Asia, particularly East Asia and the Pacific region, was chosen as the feasibility study region for this project. During the period from December 1994 to July 2002, NIHS hosted eight meetings on this project held in Tokyo.