The Times they Are A-Changing
The occurrence of the ILO's World Congress on Safety and Health at Work in Korea this Summer coincides with the hand-over of leadership of the global pro-asbestos campaign from Canadian to Russian interests. … the (Canadian) Chrysotile Institute has gradually ceded its position as coordinator of the worldwide chrysotile lobby to emerging powers in Russia - as represented by the International Alliance of Chrysotile Trade Unions. While there is not one speaker on the ILO agenda representing Canadian asbestos stakeholders, eight speakers are believed to be affiliated with asbestos interests in Eastern Europe. [article]
Universal Mesothelioma Compensation
If everything goes according to plan, shortly after Parliament convenes for the Autumn 2008 session, anyone who is diagnosed with mesothelioma as a result of exposure to asbestos in the UK, whether through occupational, para-occupational or environmental exposure, will be entitled to compensation from the Government. The Bill, which is awaiting its report stage and third reading in the House of Lords, should receive Royal Assent by the end of May 2008. It is anticipated that the average payment will be £10,000 during the first two years of the scheme. In later years, the size of payments would increase as funds allow. [article]
Asbestos on PAHO Agenda
At the end of April, 2008, Dr. Devra Davis gave a presentation at the Pan American Health Association in Washington, D.C. on occupational and environmental cancer. Dr. Davis, author of the new book The Secret History of the War on Cancer stressed asbestos as an example of a major cause of cancer and urged PAHO to work actively with the Latin American countries that have not banned asbestos.Suggestions were made that PAHO try to get the member countries that have implemented asbestos bans to instruct others in the "nuts and bolts" of putting this policy in place. [article]
Action on Asbestos in the Philippines
During April 2008, calls for asbestos to be banned were made by trade unionists, engineers and homeowners throughout the Philippines. The Associated Labour Unions, affiliated to the global labor federation "the Building and Woodworkers International" made a national asbestos ban the focus of activities held throughout International Workers' Memorial Day. Asbestos-free alternatives are available locally and are increasingly being used in construction and building projects. A bill to ban asbestos use in the Philippines, sponsored by Senator Santiago, is currently under consideration by the legislature. [article]
James Hardie: On the Run Again?
A corporate bombshell exploded onto the pages of the Weekend Australian newspaper on April 19, 2008, when Journalist Ean Higgins revealed that James Hardie, formerly the largest manufacturer of asbestos products in Australia, was preparing to move itself even further from the reach of its Australian asbestos victims. Corporate plans to relocate from Europe to North America were disclosed in the expose: Hardie in Secret Move to the U.S. It is likely that Hardie's relocation will "cause deep concerns to Australian asbestos victims, unions and the NSW [New South Wales] Government ..." [article]
Breaking Canada's Asbestos Addiction
Market forces combined with ever-increasing national awareness of the asbestos hazard have dealt the final death blow to the Canadian asbestos industry. Even though by August 2008, there will be just one working chrysotile mine left in Canada, the Government continues to fund the activities of the Chrysotile Institute, a trade association tasked with promoting global sales of chrysotile. Increasing calls are being made by civil society for the Government to "ban asbestos in all its forms, stop the export of asbestos and stop blocking international efforts to curb its use." [article]
International Workers' Memorial Day
"Remember the Dead, Fight for the Living," is the slogan for April 28, 2008 International Workers' Memorial Day (WMD). This widely observed annual event provides the opportunity for trade unions and civil society to focus on the importance of occupational safety and health to the well-being of workers around the world. As asbestos is the most common cause of occupational illness and death, it will, once again, be regarded as a priority issue at many WMD events. Trade union events in Pakistan, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Nepal and elsewhere will focus on the asbestos hazard. [article]
Asbestos Olympics?
The announcement that Beijing had been elected as the Host City for the 2008 Olympics set alarm bells ringing in the IBAS office. Knowing that China is the world's largest consumer of asbestos, we wondered whether the "Green Olympics," as they were being promoted, would be constructed with white asbestos? . . . A consensus has emerged which supports the following statement: by official mandate of the Chinese Government, the use of asbestos in the construction of the Olympic buildings has been prohibited. If asbestos is not safe enough to be used in the Olympic buildings why is it being used elsewhere in China? [article]
Never Again!
Hundreds of people joined Mayors from five local towns, a Member of Parliament and a Slovenian Prosecutor in a school auditorium on April 4, 2008 for a musical evening which featured contributions from all age groups and from both amateur and professional performers. The concert was organized by Mrs. Lidija Rahotina, a retired teacher and principal of a local school in Deskle, Southern Slovenia who spoke of the toll asbestos has taken on the local population; few families in Deskle have been unaffected by the fallout from decades of asbestos-cement production at the Salonhit Anhovo factory, the town's biggest employer. [article]
Commentary: The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization
I am just back from Detroit where I had the privilege of attending the 4th annual conference of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO). In just a few short years, the ADAO has grown into a national organization which represents U.S. asbestos victims at home and abroad; Mrs. Linda Reinstein, the ADAO Executive Director and Co-Founder, has spoken at landmark asbestos conferences in Tokyo and Bangkok and, in May 2007, addressed Members of Parliament at the House of Commons. While other groups in the U.S. make grandiose claims and issue fulsome press releases, the ADAO simply gets on with the job in hand. [article]
South Africa Bans Asbestos!
On March 28, 2008, regulations to ban asbestos came into force in South Africa. The Regulations for the Prohibition of the Use, Manufacturing, Import and Export of Asbestos and Asbestos Containing Materials are comprehensive and far-reaching with a few minor exemptions. Announcing the ban at a press conference in Pretoria, Environmental Affairs Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said that requests by Canada and Zimbabwe to be exempt from the prohibition had been denied. . . . this country once supplied all the world's amosite, most of its crocidolite and much of its chrysotile . . . [article]
Progress on Asbestos Transition in Vietnam
On March 11, 2008, a bilateral seminar was held in Hanoi during which technicians from Vietnam and Japan discussed progress on replacing asbestos in cement roofing tiles with safer alternatives. Vietnamese scientists told an audience composed of civil servants, scientists and business people about techniques to produce polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fiber-cement roofing tiles. Responding to questions about the economics of production, one of the experts admitted that currently asbestos-free tiles cost 20-30% more than the asbestos ones but that economies of scale could eventually bring the costs down. [article]
The Rotterdam Convention: Fighting for its Life
As its 10th anniversary approaches, the Rotterdam Convention is facing an uncertain future. This multilateral agreement was devised to stop developing countries from becoming dumping grounds for discredited chemicals and dangerous substances. Unfortunately, national stakeholders, led by Canada, have succeeded in undermining the Convention by imposing a 5 year veto on the listing of chrysotile asbestos, despite the fact that all the requirements for including it on the Prior Informed Consent list have been met. Unless common sense prevails the Rotterdam Convention will be dead in the water by the end of this year. [article]
Jailing Asbestos Executives
For decades, asbestos stakeholders have gotten away with murder. In recent years, courts in Europe and North America have indicated that the time is coming when officers of asbestos companies could go to prison for complicity in the asbestos scandal. In Italy and France, criminal convictions have been handed down which included jail sentences for senior employees of the Eternit Asbestos Group, the Alstom Power Boiler Company and the Trigano Company. Court cases pending in Italy and the United States may result in prison time for senior company officials. [article]
Day of Asbestos Action
The rising tide of asbestos mobilization throughout the UK was clearly apparent at the numerous events held on February 27, 2008: the 3rd national Action Mesothelioma Day (AMD). Blessed by blue skies and unseasonably warm weather, asbestos victims and their supporters mounted rallies, balloon releases, conferences and public events to highlight the on-going national asbestos epidemic which is claiming more than 3,000 lives every year. Some of the events which took place on that day are showcased in this article. [article]
Legal Win for Australian Mechanic
On February 19, 2008, Justice Andrew Beech of the Supreme Court of Western Australia issued a 68-page landmark ruling in the case of Antonio Lo Presti vs. Ford Motor Company of Australia Ltd. According to Michael Magazanik, Mr. Lo Presti's solicitor, this judgment set a precedent which may have implications for thousands of other mechanics with asbestos-related diseases. It is not yet known if Ford will appeal this verdict. [article]
| Sidebar Facility | Major Conference Reports |
| Online Publications | Bans – Regulation |
Reports by Laurie Kazan-Allen
BANJAN Anniversary Conference, Yokohama – (2007)
Asian Asbestos Conference AAC 2006 – (2006)
European Asbestos Conference:
Policy, Health and Human Rights – (2005)
Global Asbestos Congress GAC 2004 – (2004)
Canadian Asbestos: A Global Concern – (2003)
Hellenic Asbestos Conference – (2002)
European Asbestos Seminar – (2001)
Global Asbestos Congress, Osasco – (2000)
The conferences listed above are major events in which IBAS has acted as co-sponsor or provided substantial support. For further reports and presentations from these and scores of other events in which IBAS has taken an interest see Site Map:Conference and Event Reports
Online Versions of Hard Copy and CD Publications
Killing the Future: Asbestos Use in Asia – (2007)
Chrysotile Asbestos: Hazardous to Humans, Deadly to the Rotterdam Convention – (2006)
Asbestos: The Human Cost of Corporate Greed – (2005)
Annals: Global Asbestos Congress 2004
Asbestos Dispatches – (2004)
The Asbestos War – (2003)
Annals: Global Asbestos Congress 2000
The items listed include IBAS publications, IBAS texts published by third parties and IJOEH special issues guest edited by Laurie Kazan-Allen.
Asbestos Bans and Recent History of Regulation
Current Asbestos Bans and Restrictions
National Asbestos Bans (Chronology)
WTO Upholds French Ban on Chrysotile – (2001)
Europe Bans Asbestos – (2001)
The Rotterdam Convention
United Nations and ILO position
Other Articles on National Bans in addition to the first two items listed above can be found in Site Map: Asbestos Bans and Regulations
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