Brussels – No asbestos in Europe. The European Commission has been working on this imperative for years, setting targets and corrections; too bad the rules do not prevent member states from exporting it in minimum quantities, which, however, the EU executive admits it does not monitor. Strange, yet true. An all-twelve-star malfunction whereby the substance considered carcinogenic and harmful to the environment and human health must be removed from European territory but can be spread worldwide.
Jessika Roswall, Commissioner for Environment and Circular Economy, recalls first of all that the EU aligns with the UN Rotterdam Convention on trade in hazardous products. Under this regime, “it is up to importing countries to decide whether to consent to the import of certain chemicals (including asbestos) and that exporting countries must respect these decisions.” In other words, if France wants to sell asbestos to Chile, it can do so as long as Chile agrees.
Trade can and does take place. Roswall, answering to a parliamentary question on the matter, acknowledges that, according to information from the EU Commission, “in the last five years, chrysotile—or “white asbestos”—has been exported in 2021 from France to India in an amount of 0.001 tons (one kilogram) in the form of articles containing the fibre (contained in aircraft).”With regard to exports of asbestos fibres (Actinolite, Amosite, Anthophyllite, Chrysotile, Crocidolite, and Tremolite) always in the last five years, according to the database on export notifications, exports from EU member states had been planned only in 2020 (to Australia, Canada, China, Israel, Switzerland, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States) and in 2022 (to the United Kingdom).
The Commission further explained that these exports were “exempted” from compliance with EU and UN rules. This is because the same rules provide that chemicals and asbestos can be sold for research or analysis in quantities that do not affect human health or the environment and that “in any case do not exceed 10 kg from each exporter to each importing country per calendar year.” However, Roswall admits, “the Commission does not know whether these exports have taken place and in what quantity less than 10 kg.”
The final clarification suggests that the ceilings have probably been met. Indeed, the EU executive’s answer gives the impression of a Commission without its finger on the pulse despite the many commitments made so far.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
