Canada helps keep asbestos type off watchlist

Countries fail to reach consensus on chemical some deem dangerous. A type of asbestos sold around the world by Canada and several other countries will remain off an international watchlist of dangerous chemicals for at least another two years.

According to observers, India, Pakistan, Vietnam and the Philippines yesterday in Rome opposed chrysotile asbestos’s inclusion on what is known as the Rotterdam Convention’s Prior Informed Consent list. A delegation from Canada did not address the meeting.

“Canada got others to do their dirty work for them. The first speakers were our biggest customers,” said NDP MP Pat Martin, who supported chrysotile’s inclusion on the list and was in Rome as an observer.

Mr. Martin said several other countries, like Zimbabwe, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, also were opposed, but the “overwhelming majority” of delegations, including those from Europe, Australia and Chile, were in favour.

“If it’s 126 countries here, it’s probably 115 or 120 who support inclusion and seven or eight who oppose,” he said from Rome.

Mr. Martin said the Canadian delegation vetoed a Swiss proposal on Monday to change the ratification process so that it would only require a three-quarters majority for listing a chemical. To be added to the Rotterdam list currently, consensus has to be achieved.

Substances on the Prior Informed Consent list — which is administered by the United Nations — are deemed dangerous, and importing countries have to be informed about their hazards. An independent committee of scientists had recommended that chrysotile asbestos and two other substances, endosulfan and tributyltin be added to the list this year.

Endosulfan is a toxic pesticide banned in the European Union, and tributyltin is an ingredient used in products that are applied to boats. It kills marine life. Those chemicals have not been discussed yet.

Kathleen Ruff, of the Rotterdam Convention Alliance, said it is expected that tributyltin will be added to the list because “it is not a commercially valuable substance and so there is not an industry lobby to obstruct the Convention.”

Chrysotile asbestos is classified as a known human carcinogen by the nternational Agency for Research on Cancer, and more than 40 jurisdictions have bans or restrictions on the mineral. Many countries
still use it, however.

Last year, Canada sold $77 million worth to developing countries.  Canada has, in the past, vetoed the addition of chrysotile to the Rotterdam list, saying the mineral can be used safely. This year, the Canadian delegation did not release an official position.

Dr. Devra Davis, the author of The Secret History of the War on Cancer, was appalled at the outcome of the talks in Rome.

“I’m absolutely flabbergasted to realize that the asbestos industry is just following the playbook of the tobacco industry — and it’s still working,” she said.

“It’s the manufacture of doubt … and it’s ransoming the future of the children of these countries, in order for Canada to make a buck.”

“It’s legal, but it’s immoral.”

Natural Resources Canada acknowledged yesterday’s decision in an e-mail: “Consensus was not reached by all countries on the decision to list chrysotile as a dangerous substance. It is expected that the item will be deferred to the next Rotterdam Convention meeting (likely to occur in 2011).”

Clément Godbout, of the Chrysotile Institute, could not be reached for comment. A representative at the institute said Mr. Godbout will likely comment when the meeting is officially over, at the end of the week. – Pat Martin, http://patmartin.ndp.ca/node/323