Christian Paradis supports killer asbestos industry

Note: 

Staff of the Minister of Natural Resources Canada, Christian Paradis, who represents the Thetford Mines area and is one of the most aggressive fighters for the asbestos industry, 

were involved in illegally removing information that was supposed to have been provided under Access to Information law regarding the Health Canada panel on chrysotile asbestos. 

Kathleen

Two Tory staffers tried to block access to info: CP

Minister of Natural Resources Christian Paradis rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2010. (Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Updated: Wed Dec. 15 2010

The Canadian Press


OTTAWA — Two more Conservative staffers in the office of cabinet minister Christian Paradis tried to block the release of access-to-information documents, The Canadian Press has learned.


In October, Paradis adviser Sebastien Togneri resigned after it was revealed he had meddled in at least three different access-to-information requests while with the Public Works Department.


Those incidents are the subject of an investigation by the information commissioner.
But two more policy advisers within Paradis' office were also involved in dealing with records destined for public release under access-to-information legislation.


Documents obtained by The Canadian Press show that Marc Toupin and Jillian Andrews both argued against the release of material on sensitive subjects.


In one case dealing with the members of a federal panel who wrote a damning report on asbestos, Paradis' political office had highlighted material it did not want released.


When bureaucrats asked for an explanation, Togneri directed them to his colleague Toupin.


"Those comments are inappropriate and improper, not relevant to the request and should not be disclosed," Toupin said of the material in a July 2009 email.


The manager of access to information and privacy balked at the direction.


"Please note that the Access to Information Act was created to provide access to records under the control of federal institutions and limit the application of severances," Julie Lafrance wrote to Toupin.


"Therefore, the legislators did not include a section in the Act for 'inappropriate and improper' comments."
Andrews intervened in a separate access-to-information request, about preparations for U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Canada in February 2009. Togneri had argued with bureaucrats that only a single document should be released, and then directed them to Andrews for further "in-depth" analysis.


"Our department specifically states that the only documentation they have pertaining to this is a work stop order," Andrews wrote in July 2009. "The document is found at the very last page of the ATIP. Therefore, this should be the only part of the ATIP to be released."


But another bureaucrat noted in response that officials specifically mandated with collecting documents within the department had put together a much heftier package than a single work-stop order.


It is not clear in either the asbestos or the Obama case whether the documents were ultimately released to the requester. The Canadian Press only asked for correspondence on the processing of four access-to-information files in 2009.


Paradis, now natural resources minister, was asked in October about other staff in his office who might have intervened in access requests, but did not directly answer the question.
A spokesman emphasized Wednesday that Paradis had already accepted the resignation of the person in charge of access to information at the time -- Sebastien Togneri.


"The minister then forwarded the file to the information commissioner and is looking forward to her recommendations," said Richard Walker, Paradis' director of communications.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's chief of staff, Guy Giorno, issued a memo to all political staff in February, reminding them of the content of the Access to Information Act.


"No political staff member has received a delegation of authority under the Act and therefore no political staff member has authority to make access-to-information decisions," Giorno wrote.


The office of the information commissioner is currently investigating the cases involving Togneri. The former staffer had ordered bureaucrats to retrieve a package of documents from the Public Works mailroom in the summer of 2009 that were destined for The Canadian Press.


He told a Commons committee the following spring that it was a "mistake" and it was the only time he had taken such action, but other incidents were later revealed in more documents.


Togneri and Andrews were asked to appear at the committee at a later date, but the Conservatives announced in May that ministers would take full responsibility for the actions of their staffs and appear on their behalf.

http://winnipeg.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20101215/paradis-documents-101215/20101215/?hub=WinnipegHome

BANI Seeks World Opinion Against Quebec Government

Press Release

BANI Seeks World Opinion Against Quebec Government

TO STOP ASBESTOS MINING IN QUEBEC

New Delhi 16/12/2010: Quebec government, Canada is all set to decide whether to give $58 million financing to an anonymous consortium of foreign investors to open the Jeffrey mine to export 5 million tonnes of asbestos to India and other Asian countries over the next quarter century. India is one of the biggest consumers of asbestos mined in Quebec, a province of Canada although there is ban on asbestos mining in India. In India, Human Rights Commission has ruled that exposing human beings to asbestos fibers is an act human rights violation.

Quebec Premier, Jean Charest must be made to listen to public health experts of the world and his own medical experts and not finance a new generation of asbestos disease in India and other Asian countries. This brings unprecedented dishonor on Quebec in particular and Canada in general.

Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI) appeals to the world civil society, global academia and world media to act in right earnest to persuade Quebec government to desist from promoting and financing mining and trade in killer fibers of asbestos that has been banned in 52 countries. What is poisonous in these countries cannot be inhumanly presented as non-poisonous in India and other Asian countries. Promoting mining and trade in lung cancer causing fibers of Quebec asbestos constitutes an act of barbarism.

BANI makes a solemn appeal to the legislators of the world to use their persuasive power to stop Quebec Premier Charest from doing the indefensible act of financing an anonymous consortium of foreign investors to open the Jeffrey asbestos mine. This will lead to an unprecedented epidemic of preventable but incurable asbestos related diseases due to export of 5 million tonnes of asbestos to India and other Asian countries in the coming years.

BANI urges Indian legislators to ensure immediate ban on asbestos trade from Canada and other countries in supreme public interest to protect present and future generation of Indians. Indian government must abandon its negotiations for a free trade agreement with Canada unless Quebec stops its naked pursuit for blind profit at the cost of asbestos victims. BANI has written letters to the Speaker of Canadian House of Commons, Yvon Vallières, President of the National Assembly of Québec and the heads of both the houses of Indian Parliament in this regard. The letter is available on BANI's blog. Vallières is also President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie (APF).

For Details: Gopal Krishna, Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI), Mb:07739308480, 09818089660, E-mail: krishna2777@gmail.com, Web: banasbestosindia.blogspot.com

To

Mr Yvon Vallières,
President
National Assembly of Québec

Québec City

Subject-BANI Appeal to National Assembly of Québec on Asbestos Mining

Sir,

With due respect this is with reference to Quebec government's role in giving $58 million financing to an anonymous consortium of foreign investors to open the Jeffrey mine to export 5 million tonnes of asbestos to India and other Asian countries over the next quarter century. India is one of the biggest consumers of asbestos mined in Quebec, a province of Canada although there is ban on asbestos mining in India. In India, Human Rights Commission has ruled that exposing human beings to asbestos fibers is an act human rights violation.

On behalf of Indian citizens, I wish to request you to persuade Quebec Premier, Jean Charest to listen to public health experts of the world and his own medical experts and not to finance a new generation of asbestos disease in India and other Asian countries. This brings unprecedented dishonor on Quebec in particular and Canada in general.

I wish to submit that the silence of National Assembly of Quebec in the matter of human rights violations due to exposure from Quebec asbestos is deafening.The time is now for the Quebec legislature to legislate a law that puts public health before blind lust for profit of the asbestos industry.

In the aftermath of the 26th Anniversary of World’s worst industrial disaster caused by Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), a US company, I submit that in the US, Dow Chemicals Company has set aside $2.2 billion to address future asbestos-related liabilities arising out of the UCC’s acquisition. There no such initiative by the Quebec and Indian asbestos companies although it is an established fact that asbestos is a known human carcinogen that claims more than 100,000 lives every year.

The World Health Organization (WHO), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), representing 176 million workers in 151 countries have all called for an end to the use of any form of asbestos, including chrysotile asbestos, which represents 100% of the global asbestos trade.

Amidst a growing demand for a global ban on all kinds of asbestos and its products, Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI), an alliance of occupational and environmental groups and public health researchers’ appeal to the Committee to recommend that ban on asbestos trade with Canada must be deemed a pre-condition for future negotiations on Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). On November 16, 2010, Canadian Minister of International Trade Peter Van Loan opened formal talks with our Union Commerce Minister, Anand Sharma on a strategic economic partnership between the two countries.

I submit that BANI which is working to make India asbestos free feels that Canada lost its place as a non-Permanent Member in the UN Security Council because it is fast losing its reputation as a civilized nation because of its position on asbestos trade among other reasons.

BANI is attempting to respond to the public health crisis in India due to trade in asbestos. There is an epidemic of incurable asbestos related diseases and India does not have the environmental and occupational health infrastructure to even diagnose the asbestos diseases.

While Canadian House of Commons is being decontaminated of asbestos, there is not a single building in India including the Indian Parliament which is asbestos free.

I wish to draw your attention towards the fact that a helicopter carrying the President of India hit an asbestos shed at the Bhubaneshwar airport, Orissa (a province in India) on December 9, 2009. The fact is that such asbestos sheds pose a health, environmental and occupational risk to everybody.

In 2006 alone there were more than 1,000 mesothelioma deaths (asbestos related fatal disease) in Japan which along with some 52 countries has banned asbestos. Some 10, 000 people are dying of asbestos related diseases in the US. Indians face and await a similar fate.

I wish to inform you that The White Asbestos (Ban on Use and Import) Bill, 2009 is pending the Rajya Sabha (the Upper House of the Indian Parliament). The issue of health hazards from asbestos has been raised consistently in the Indian Parliament.

The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the White Asbestos (Ban on Use and Import) Bill, 2009 introduced on 31 July 2009 captures clearly the global stand on this issue:

“The white asbestos is highly carcinogenic even the World Health Organisation has reported that it causes cancer. It is a rare fibrous material that is used to make rooftops and brake linings. More than fifty countries have already banned the use and import of white asbestos. Even the countries that export it to India prefer not to use it domestically. But in our country, it is imported without any restriction. Canada and Russia are the biggest exporters of white asbestos. In 2007, Canada exported almost Ninety five percent of the white asbestos it mined and out of it forty-three percent was shipped to India. It is quite surprising that our country is openly importing huge quantity of a product, which causes cancer. This is despite the fact that safer and almost cheap alternatives to asbestos are available in the country. Instead of importing a hazardous material, it will be better if we spend some money in research and development and use environment friendly product. In view of the above, there is an urgent need for a total ban on the import and use of white asbestos and promote the use of alternative material.”
Through you I wish to urge Quebec government and Quebec National Assembly to desist from providing fiscal support to an industry in Quebec which is liable for the fatal asbestos diseases and death of millions of workers and consumers.

In such a context, through you BANI urges the legislators to ensure that ‘ban on asbestos commerce’ must be made a pre-condition for the proposed free trade agreement between India and Canada.

I humbly submit that this provides an unprecedented opportunity to the Canadian Parliament to assert its legislative will and stop the group of international investors who want to purchase the Jeffrey asbestos mine that will lead to production of killer fibers of asbestos to expand from 15,000 to 180, 000 tonne/year in 2012 and eventually to 225,000 tonnes.

Sadly, while the production of asbestos fibers will increase, the reputation of Quebec, Canada as a civilized nation will nose dive to its nadir. Quebec and Canadian government is bigger than the Quebec asbestos industry, the way the members of Quebec National Assembly which you chair acts or does not act will determine the same. It is heartening to know that you are also President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie (APF). Therefore, you command a moral authority which will help you comprehend and act to set a precedent in the interest of asbestos victims of the world in general and Indian victims in particular.

I will be glad to share more information about the asbestos victims and related issues.

Thanking You

Warm Regards
Gopal Krishna
Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI)
New Delhi
Mb: 9818089660
E-mail: krishna2777@gmail.com
Blog: banasbestosindia.blogspot.com

Cc

Mr Jean Charest , Premier, Quebec, Canada

Mr Peter Milliken, Speaker, House of Commons, Canada
Mr Hamid Ansari, Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Upper House of Indian Parliament
Mrs Meira Kumar, Speaker, Lok Sabha, Lower House Indian Parliament

BANI Appeal to Canadian Parliament for Ban on Asbestos Trade

To

Mr Peter Milliken, M.P.

Speaker

House of Commons

Speaker's office

Parliament Buildings

Ottawa, Canada

Subject-BANI Appeal to Canadian Parliament for Ban on Asbestos Trade

Sir,

With reference to the scientifically recognized need to make the world asbestos free at the earliest, I wish to submit that the silence of Canadian House of Commons in the matter of human rights violations due to exposure from Canadian asbestos is deafening. The time is now for the Canadian Parliament to legislate a law that puts public health before blind lust for profit of the asbestos industry.

In the aftermath of the 26^th Anniversary of World’s worst industrial disaster caused by Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), a US company, I submit that in the US, Dow Chemicals Company has set aside $2.2 billion to address future asbestos-related liabilities arising out of the UCC’s acquisition. There no such initiative by the Canadian and Indian asbestos companies although it is an established fact that asbestos is a known human carcinogen that claims more than 100,000 lives every year.  

The World Health Organization (WHO), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), representing 176 million workers in 151 countries have all called for an end to the use of any form of asbestos, including chrysotile asbestos, which represents 100% of the global asbestos trade.

Amidst a growing demand for a global ban on all kinds of asbestos and its products, Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI), an alliance of occupational and environmental groups and public health researchers’ appeal to the Committee to recommend that ban on asbestos trade with Canada must be deemed a pre-condition for future negotiations on Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). On November 16, 2010, Canadian Minister of International Trade Peter Van Loan opened formal talks with our Union Commerce Minister, Anand Sharma on a strategic economic partnership between the two countries.

I submit that BANI which is working to make India asbestos free feels that Canada lost its place as a non-Permanent Member in the UN Security Council because it is fast losing its reputation as a civilized nation because of its position on asbestos trade among other reasons.

BANI is attempting to respond to the public health crisis in India due to trade in asbestos. There is an epidemic of incurable asbestos related diseases and India does not have the environmental and occupational health infrastructure to even diagnose the asbestos diseases.

While Canadian House of Commons is being decontaminated of asbestos, there is not a single building in India including the Indian Parliament which is asbestos free.

I wish to draw your attention towards the fact that a helicopter carrying the President of India hit an asbestos shed at the Bhubaneshwar airport, Orissa (a province in India) on December 9, 2009. The fact is that such asbestos sheds pose a health, environmental and occupational risk to everybody. 

In 2006 alone there were more than 1,000 mesothelioma deaths (asbestos related fatal disease) in Japan which along with some 52 countries has banned asbestos. Some 10, 000 people are dying of asbestos related diseases in the US. Indians face and await a similar fate.

I wish to inform you that The White Asbestos (Ban on Use and Import) Bill, 2009 is pending the Rajya Sabha (the Upper House of the Indian Parliament). The issue of health hazards from asbestos has been raised consistently in the Indian Parliament. 

The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the White Asbestos (Ban on Use and Import) Bill, 2009 introduced on 31 July 2009 captures clearly the global stand on this issue:

“The white asbestos is highly carcinogenic even the World Health Organisation has reported that it causes cancer. It is a rare fibrous material that is used to make rooftops and brake linings. More than fifty countries have already banned the use and import of white asbestos. Even the countries that export it to India prefer not to use it domestically. But in our country, it is imported without any restriction. Canada and Russia are the biggest exporters of white asbestos. In 2007, Canada exported almost Ninety five percent of the white asbestos it mined and out of it forty-three percent was shipped to India. It is quite surprising that our country is openly importing huge quantity of a product, which causes cancer. This is despite the fact that safer and almost cheap alternatives to asbestos are available in the country. Instead of importing a hazardous material, it will be better if we spend some money in research and development and use environment friendly product. In view of the above, there is an urgent need for a total ban on the import and use of white asbestos and promote the use of alternative material.”

Through you I wish to Canadian and Quebec government to desist from providing fiscal support to an industry in Quebec which is liable for the fatal asbestos diseases and death of millions of workers and consumers.  

In such a context, through you BANI urges the legislators to ensure that ‘ban on asbestos commerce’ must be made a pre-condition for the proposed free trade agreement between India and Canada.  

I humbly submit that this provides an unprecedented opportunity to the Canadian Parliament to assert its legislative will and stop the group of international investors who want to purchase the Jeffrey asbestos mine that will lead to production of killer fibers of asbestos to expand from 15,000 to 180, 000 tonne/year in 2012 and eventually to 225,000 tonnes.

Sadly, while the production of asbestos fibers will increase, the reputation of Canada as a civilized nation will nose dive to its nadir. Canada as nation is bigger than Canadian and Quebec asbestos industry, the way the members of this august house which you chair acts or does not act will determine the same.     

I will be glad to share more information about the asbestos victims and related issues.

Thanking You

Warm Regards

Gopal Krishna

Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI) 

New Delhi

Mb: 9818089660

E-mail: krishna2777@gmail.com

Blog: banasbestosindia.blogspot.com

Cc

Mr Hamid Ansari, Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Upper House of Indian Parliament  

Mrs Meira Kumar, Speaker, Lok Sabha, Lower House Indian Parliament  

Health Hazards of Trade Agreement with Asbestos trader Canada

To

Shri Yashwant Sinha

Chairperson & Members

Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance

New Delhi

Through

Shri Ramkumar Suryanarayanan

Deputy Secretary

Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance

Subject- Health Hazards of Trade Agreement with Asbestos trader Canada 

Sir,

This is to draw your attention towards the need for making our country asbestos free at the earliest. But instead of immediately banning the import of potentially deadly asbestos, the proposed free trade agreement between India and Canada will boost asbestos trade.

Amidst a growing demand for a global ban on all kinds of asbestos and its products, Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI), an alliance of occupational and environmental groups and public health researchers’ appeal to the Committee to recommend that ban on asbestos trade with Canada must be deemed a pre-condition for future negotiations on CEPA. On November 16, Canadian Minister of International Trade Peter Van Loan opened formal talks with our Union Commerce Minister, Anand Sharma on a strategic economic partnership between the two countries.

We wish to bring to your notice that a helicopter carrying our President hit an asbestos shed at the Bhubaneshwar airport on December 9, 2009. Shri M C Bhandari, Hon'ble Governor, Orissa and Shri Devi Singh Shekhawat were also along with her. A Court of Inquiry was ordered into the incident by the Indian Air Force but the fact that such asbestos sheds pose a health, environmental and occupational risk to everybody in our country is noteworthy too. In 2006 alone there were more than 1,000 mesothelioma deaths (asbestos related fatal disease) in Japan which along with some 52 countries have banned asbestos.

Our armed forces are at a grave risk of asbestos exposure because asbestos has been used extensively in their work places and residential places. In the Army and Air Force, asbestos is used in brake and clutch pads installed in everything from tanks to jeeps to aircraft. Asbestos is part of the insulation in housing and other buildings on military bases, electric wiring insulation aboard military planes, and fire retardant materials used by military firefighters and gunners. In the Navy, Merchant Marine, and Coast Guard, it is even more widely used, mainly as thermal insulation aboard ships. Asbestos is used in old and new constructed naval vessels.

Our Ministry of Defence, Navy, Army and Air Force must be asked to compile statistics for how many soldiers have died from asbestos related diseases, how many are suffering from it and how many face the danger of exposure which causes asbestos-related lung cancers and serious respiratory diseases.

Our airmen, sailors and soldiers would feel betrayed by the armed forces and the government they served if they come to know that they faced asbestos exposure and government did nothing to save them.

It was admitted by Indian public health experts that none of the 300 medical colleges are asbestos free and none are equipped to deal with asbestos diseases. "A beginning must be made by asking all the medical colleges to prepare a list of asbestos exposed patients, preparing a register of incurable asbestos diseases and starting occupational health courses," said Dr Arun Kumar Agarwal, Additional Director, General of Health Services, Government of India at another international conference at Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi on 19th December, 2009. This reveals the state of occupational and environmental health infrastructure of our country.

We seek your urgent intervention in the matter of a serious unprecedented environmental and occupational health crisis with regard to unnoticed epidemic of asbestos related disease in our country in general. Even if one asbestos fibre reaches the right place, it causes irreversible damage - leading to asbestosis, lung cancer or mesothelioma. Thirty deaths are caused per day from asbestos-related diseases as per estimates based on US and European studies.

We appreciate the fact that the Parliament has taken a historic initiative of introducing The White Asbestos (Ban on Use and Import) Bill, 2009 in the Rajya Sabha. The issue of health hazards from asbestos has been raised consistently in the parliament. The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the White Asbestos (Ban on Use and Import) Bill, 2009 introduced on 31 July 2009 captures clearly the global stand on this issue:

The white asbestos is highly carcinogenic even the World Health Organisation has reported that it causes cancer. It is a rare fibrous material that is used to make rooftops and brake linings. More than fifty countries have already banned the use and import of white asbestos. Even the countries that export it to India prefer not to use it domestically. But in our country, it is imported without any restriction. Canada and Russia are the biggest exporters of white asbestos. In 2007, Canada exported almost Ninety five percent of the white asbestos it mined and out of it forty-three percent was shipped to India. It is quite surprising that our country is openly importing huge quantity of a product, which causes cancer. This is despite the fact that safer and almost cheap alternatives to asbestos are available in the country. Instead of importing a hazardous material, it will be better if we spend some money in research and development and use environment friendly product. In view of the above, there is an urgent need for a total ban on the import and use of white asbestos and promote the use of alternative material.

When the world is preparing and planning to get rid of all forms of asbestos, it makes us look stupid in India to be still importing it, we should devote our scarce resources to prevent the impending disaster by phasing it out as soon as we can. Safer substitute materials for white asbestos are available, they should be considered for use. It is high time the committee recommended measures to prevent asbestos exposures of citizens, consumers, workers. Notably, the exposure of construction workers and automobile mechanics for instance defies regulatory control efforts in any country.

We wish to draw your urgent attention to the order of Kerala Human Rights Commission on January 31, 2009, the Commission ruled that the government should take steps to phase out asbestos roofing from all schools in the state.

We wish to ask: Is it not unfair that the ministry is the real protector of the hazardous asbestos industry to the detriment of public health? How is it that killer fibers of asbestos, banned in some 52 countries, is deemed poisonous in those countries and it becomes non-poisonous the moment it enters Indian borders?

It may be noted that Union Ministry of Labour has admitted in the Parliament that “Out of a total of Rs. 59.66 lacs allocated for the National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH)’s study of chrysotile asbestos by Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, the Asbestos Cement Products Manufactures Association has contributed Rs. 16 lacs” on March 17, 2008. The corrupt influence of the asbestos industry on the ministry is quite manifest. The government has consistently slashed import duty on asbestos and made it artificially cheaper.

It may be recalled noted that in the US, Dow Chemicals Company has set aside $2.2 billion to address future asbestos-related liabilities arising out of the Union Carbide Corporation acquisition. There no such initiative by the Indian asbestos companies although it an established fact that asbestos is a known human carcinogen that claims more than 100,000 lives every year.  The World Health Organization (WHO), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), representing 176 million workers in 151 countries have all called for an end to the use of any form of asbestos, including chrysotile asbestos, which represents 100% of the global asbestos trade.

The time is now to embrace policy that puts public health before blind profit. You and the Parliamentary Committee have the historic opportunity and the moral duty to end the deadly asbestos legacy.

We wish to point out that despite Canada’s leadership in medical care and technology, it is an act of double standards and human rights violation when an advanced country that strictly regulates the use of asbestos within its own borders, exports asbestos in India and around the world. Admittedly, India lacks the expertise to monitor and treat incurable illnesses that results from inhaling asbestos fibers.

BANI seeks your support and solidarity with the protest from health and environmental groups against an attempt by Indian and other investors to revive a big Canadian asbestos mine. Jeffrey and one other remaining mine in the Quebec province of Canada produce chrysotile, or white asbestos, used mainly to reinforce cement used for water pipes and other building materials. Exposure to asbestos fibers causes incurable and fatal lung diseases.

Canada is the world’s fifth-biggest asbestos producer after Russia, China, Kazakhstan and Brazil. India is one of the biggest consumers of cancer causing asbestos fibers from Quebec, Canada. The proposed revival and expansion of the mine would boost asbestos production from the 100-year-old mine from an estimated 15,000 tonnes this year to 180,000 tonnes in 2012 and an eventual capacity of 260,000 tonnes, or about 10 per cent of global production.

In India, there is a ban on asbestos mining but trade, manufacture and use of asbestos products is yet to be banned. There is a ban on trade in asbestos waste as well.

As per the survey of U.P. Asbestos Limited, Mohanlalganj,Lucknow and Allied Nippn Pvt Ltd, Gaziabad, (U.P), the lung function impairment was found to be higher in subjects exposed for more than 11 years. This was the result of a Central Pollution Control Board sponsored project entitled "Human risk assessment studies in asbestos industries in India". This has been reported in the (2001-2002) Annual Report of Industrial Toxicological Research Centre, Lucknow. It has also been published in the 139th Report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Environment, Forests, Science and Technology and presented to the parliament on 17th March, 2005. Unmindful of such studies new factories are coming up in Bihar, Orissa, Maharashtra, Uttaranchal and in other states.

We submit that given the ubiquitous presence of the killer fibers of asbestos, there is no alternative to getting it banned in right earnest. Scientists, doctors, public health researchers, trade unions, activists and civil society groups has been working to persuade the Governments to give up its consistent and continued pro-asbestos industry bias and lack of concern for the asbestos -injured who die one of the most painful deaths imaginable.

We wish to draw your attention towards the Government of India's submission made in August 2006 in its Report to the Supreme Court by the then Secretary, Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and Chairman, Technical Experts Committee on Management of Hazardous Wastes took note of asbestos victims and cites the "Medical Examination of the Asbestos Handlers" by a team of National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH) that concludes, " The X ray examination by NIOH showed linear shadows on chest X rays of 15 (16 %) of 94 workers occupationally exposed to asbestos. These are consistent with asbestosis".

Although the Supreme Court of India has ruled that the Government of India must comply with ILO resolutions, so far the ILO resolution (June 14, 2006) stating "the elimination of the future use of asbestos and the identification and proper management of asbestos currently in place are the most effective means to protect workers from asbestos exposures and to prevent future asbestos-related disease and deaths" has not been acted upon.

Earlier on August 18,2003, the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Parliamentary Affairs informed the Parliament that: "Studies by the National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH), Ahmedabad, have shown that long-term exposure to any type of asbestos can lead to development of asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma." This was not the first official acknowledgment of the asbestos hazard. Government of India's Office Memorandum NO.6 (6)/94 - Cement, (Sept 1, 1994) of the Ministry of Industry states: "The Department has generally not been recommending any case of Industrial License to any new unit for the creation of fresh capacity of asbestos products in the recent past due to the apprehension that prolonged exposure to asbestos leads to serious health hazards".

Public health researchers, civil society groups, trade unions and human rights groups have demanded an immediate ban on all uses of asbestos including an immediate end to the import of chrysotile. We seek measures to identify, compensate and treat the asbestos -injured and regulations to minimize harmful exposures are also being proposed. We demand criminal prosecution of those responsible for asbestos exposures such as factory owners and company directors. Although non-asbestos technology certainly exists in India, in fact in some factories the two technologies exist side-by-side, consumers will inevitably opt for the cheaper product: more demand will translate into higher sales which will generate more chrysotile rupees that can be used to obtain an eve of political support.

It appears that since a quid-pro-quo relationship between government officials and asbestos industry exists, the issue remains away the media spotlight, journalists and the public remain unaware of the pernicious reasons which motivate the decisions being taken; decisions which will expose current and future generations to the deadly asbestos hazard.

In India asbestos is still used in the manufacture of  pressure and non-pressure pipes used for water supply, sewage, and drainage, packing material, brake linings and jointing used in automobiles, heavy equipment, nuclear power plants, thermal power plants amongst others.

Dr S R Kamat, a renowned lung specialist was bitter at the "utter callousness of employers", the total lack of medical expertise and government inaction; all of which continued to put workers at risk of contracting asbestos-related diseases. In the 5 surveys done in the country, large number of the subjects showed asbestos lung diseases. All of them showed breathing problem, many had cough, some had sputum, chest pain finger clubbing and chest pain. Disability in such cases are permanent, progressive; means of compensation are meager, informs Dr Kamat.

According to recent studies in United States there 10, 000 deaths happening every year due to past asbestos exposure and will cause million more deaths worldwide. This has been corroborated by studies published in the British Medical Journal.

We wonder as to why is it that the concern of the countries, which have banned asbestos not relevant to India?" Exposing workers to asbestos must be equated to murder and legal provisions must deal with it accordingly. How many consumers would want to use the material if they know that even a single exposure can cause cancer? "Experimental as well as epidemiological studies proved asbestos as carcinogen as well as co-carcinogen. Risk assessment and control of occupational exposure are very poor in developing countries like India," said Dr Qamar Rehman, a renowned toxicologist. In such a scenario, it is quite disturbing to note that there are no industrial physicians and virtually no occupational health centres in India, whatever the rules may say.

Even World Bank has a policy against asbestos since 1991. "The Bank increasingly prefers to avoid financing asbestos use...Thus, at any mention of asbestos in Bank-assisted projects, the Task Manager needs to exercise special care." Diagnosable asbestosis among workers in most asbestos cement factories and consumer products with no warning labels and unions with no programmes to prevent asbestos disease and exposure in builders and mechanics is alarming. Delay in stopping asbestos use is a victory for those who do not wish to put health and the environment ahead of commercial interests.

In the light of these findings and developments, in short we urge you to put an end to the use of the of all kinds of asbestos products that is being manufactured and encountered daily, because none of the schools, offices, legislatures, courts, hospitals, automobiles, private and public buildings in our country are asbestos free in our country. There is an urgent need to prepare a Register of asbestos handlers and victims and award a compensation of at least Rs 20 lakh for the asbestos victims.

It is submitted that the International Programme on Chemical Safety, the European Union, the Collegium Ramazzini, the International Social Security Association and the International Commission on Occupational Health all support a global ban on asbestos. Even the Supreme Court of India recognised in 1995 the hazards of asbestos in the case of Consumer Education and Research Centre (CERC) versus Union of India and more recently, in 2009 the Kerala Human Rights Commission noted that “exposing Indians to asbestos is a human rights violation” by banning its use in school. National Human Rights Commission too has termed it as harmful to health.

Therefore, we urge you to recommend the Government of India to:

·  Take steps to ban import of asbestos from Canada and from all other exporting countries.

·  Ensure the passing of the White Asbestos (Ban on Use and Import) Bill 2009 introduced in the Rajya Sabha in July 2009 (Bill No. XIII of 2009).

·  Revise its stand and support the listing of chrysotile asbestos in the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) list of the Rotterdam Convention.

·  Ratify the ILO Convention & Resolution on Asbestos.

·  Take concrete steps to address the occupational and safety concerns of workers employed in asbestos related industries; ensure compensation for workers harmed by asbestos and support a just transition for workers losing employment due to a ban on the mining, use in manufacture, and trade in asbestos.

·  Amend the existing Import Policy of Ministry of Commerce for chrysotile asbestos without which the alarming rise in the consumption of asbestos products is unlikely to change.

In view of the above, we request you and the Parliamentary Committee to examine the need for immediate ban on asbestos of all kinds including chrysotile asbestos. We will be glad to share more information.

Thanking You

Yours Sincerely

Gopal Krishna,

Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI)

Mb: 98180989660, E-mail-krishna2777@gmail.com

Blog: banasbestosindia.blogspot.com


Cc

1          Sinha, Shri Yashwant

2          Dr Bali Ram

3          Bandyopadhyay, Shri Sudip

4          Chang, Shri C. M.

5          Chavan, Shri Harischandra Deoram

6          Das, Shri Bhakta Charan

7          Das, Shri Khagen

8          Dasgupta, Shri Gurudas

9          Dubey, Shri Nishikant

10        Mahtab, Shri Bhartruhari

11        Mandal, Shri Mangani Lal

12        Nahata, Smt. P. Jaya Prada

13        Rao, Shri Sambasiva Rayapati

14        Reddy, Shri Magunta Sreenivasulu

15        Reddy, Shri Y. S. Jagan Mohan

16        Sarvey, Shri Sathyanarayana

17        Siddeswara, Shri Gowdar Mallikarjunappa

18        Singh, Shri N.Dharam

19        Tagore, Shri Manicka

20        Thambidurai, Dr. Munisamy

21        Yadav, Shri M. Anjan Kumar

22        Ahluwalia, Shri S.S.

23        Alvi, Shri Raashid

24        Darda Shri Vijay Jawaharlal

25        Goyal Shri Piyush

26        Mahendra Mohan, Shri

27        Dr. Mahendra Prasad

28        Misra Shri Satish Chandra

29        Moinul Hassan, Shri

30        Rao, Shri K.V.P. Ramachandra

31        Trivedi, Shri Y. P.

 

Environmental, labour & health groups denounce India-Canada Trade Agreement

Press Release

Environmental, labour & health groups denounce India-Canada Trade Agreement

Stop Revival & Expansion of Canadian Asbestos Mines

BANI Appreciates Canadian Journal of Public Health

New Delhi/ 25/11/2010: Instead of immediately banning the import of potentially deadly asbestos, the proposed free trade agreement between India and Canada will boost asbestos trade. In such a backdrop, talks on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the two countries is quite sad and disturbing and has been denounced by the environmental, labour & health groups. The groups demanded that ban asbestos trade must be deemed a pre-condition for future negotiations on CEPA.

On November 16, Canadian Minister of International Trade Peter Van Loan opened formal talks with Indian Commerce Minister Anand Sharma on a strategic economic partnership between the two countries.

Despite Canada’s leadership in medical care and technology, it is an act of violation when an advanced country that strictly regulates the use of asbestos within its own borders, exports asbestos in India and around the world. Admittedly, India lacks the expertise to monitor and treat incurable illnesses that results from inhaling asbestos fibers.

Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI) expresses its support and solidarity with the protest from health and environmental groups against an attempt by Indian and other investors to revive a big Canadian asbestos mine. Jeffrey and one other remaining mine in the Quebec province of Canada produce chrysotile, or white asbestos, used mainly to reinforce cement used for water pipes and other building materials. Exposure to asbestos fibers causes incurable and fatal lung diseases. In India there is a ban on asbestos mining but trade, manufacture and use of asbestos products is yet to be banned. There is a ban on trade in asbestos waste as well.

The identity of the Quebec leader of the anonymous consortium of investors, who have offered to buy the Jeffrey mine for $15 million, on condition that the Quebec government gives them $58 million financing was hidden for quite a while now it is now known.

These prospective buyers of the mine are led by Baljit Chadha, a Montreal-based financier of Indian mineral extraction. The group also includes investors based in India, Financial Times reported on 24 November, 2010.

BANI condemns the naked lust of this consortium for profit and its criminal disregard for the disastrous heath consequences.

Environmental, labour and health groups are opposed to the approval of C$58 million ($57 million) in loan guarantees needed to convert the Jeffrey mine from an open-pit to an underground operation. They are urging the Quebec government not to approve the loan. The open-pit reserves are almost exhausted but the deeper deposits are among the biggest in the world.
Canada is the world’s fifth-biggest asbestos producer after Russia, China, Kazakhstan and Brazil. India is one of the biggest consumers of cancer causing asbestos fibers from Quebec, Canada. Revival and expansion of the mine would boost asbestos production from the 100-year-old mine from an estimated 15,000 tonnes this year to 180,000 tonnes in 2012 and an eventual capacity of 260,000 tonnes, or about 10 per cent of global production.

BANI expresses its deep sense of appreciation for an extremely powerful editorial by Prof. Gilles Paradis in the Canadian Journal of Public Health calling on Quebec's public health organisations to stop the Jeffrey mine and to demand a ban on the mining and export of chrysotile asbestos. Indeed Canada’s export of asbestos to developing countries like India is a racist policy. Prof. Paradis observes, “"There is an ethical imperative for Public Health Organizations and professionals, and in particular for Quebec's public health leaders, to become more vocal and active in the fight against chrysotile asbestos and to unite behind a common goal of banning production and export of all asbestos." (Editorial attached)

It is high time Indian public health organisations and journals took note of it as well and vocally endorsed the call for immediate ban on asbestos of all kinds including chrysotile asbestos.

For Details: Gopal Krishna, Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI), Mb: 98180989660,
E-mail-krishna2777@gmail.com, Blog: banasbestosindia.blogspot.com
Web: www.toxicswatch.com

Canada loses out on UN Security Council seat due to Asbestos?

Note: India is an aspirant for UN Security Council's permanent seat. Although it won the non-permanent seat, it should ban asbestos with immediate effect for permanent membership.

Canada suffered a devastating blow both to its self-image and its international reputation, for the first time in 60 years losing a bid for a UN Security Council seat.

The 15-member council, the UN’s most important decision-making body, has 10 rotating seats. Two of these, assigned to Western-bloc nations, were up for grabs Tuesday.

Both Germany and Portugal — an afterthought nation with a population of just 10 million — beat out Canada in a stunning vote decision that could shift Canadians’ view of their country as a principled global player and international boy scout.

The vote result also could damage the profile of the Harper Conservatives, who are bound to be blamed for failing to safeguard what was assumed to be Canada’s proud standing in the world.

Canada is a founding member of the UN and the seventh-largest contributor to its finances. In recent years this country has made an outsized contribution to the UN-backed war effort in Afghanistan.

“Our failure to win a UN Security Council seat is Canada’s Hindenburg moment,” intoned the Rideau Institute, referring to the 1937 disaster in which a German airship was destroyed by fire.

The Ottawa-based institute, specializing in foreign and defence policy, attempted to explain the vote debacle:

“Canadians pride themselves on our global role, but Canada’s dismal performance on climate change, foreign aid, peacekeeping, asbestos, reproductive rights and the Middle East, has taken a heavy toll.”

It’s difficult to ascribe precise motives for the voting decisions of so many different countries. But what should be remembered is that the allocation of the two coveted seats reflected a numbers game.

And votes largely reflect crass self-interest — a notion that explains some of the questionable positions taken in the past by the UN.

After all, Libya votes. Iran votes. Somalia votes.

Let’s face it, Canada wouldn’t have been top pick Tuesday against the likes of Portugal and Germany in the eyes of:

• Other European Union countries, which would favour their own;

• Arab nations, miffed by the Harper government’s stalwart support of Israel. Conservatives as recently as Monday announced enhanced trade ties with the Middle East’s lone democracy;

• African countries, possibly perturbed by Canadian aid cutbacks.

Running for political cover, Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon declared: “I do not in any way see this as a repudiation of Canada’s foreign policy.”

Rather, he blamed critical comments last month by Michael Ignatieff, as if foreign countries would heed any opposition politician’s musings.

The Liberal leader had questioned whether Canada had earned the right to a UN Security Council seat given its foreign policy record.

Ignatieff Tuesday insisted, “The responsibility for this vote lies squarely and exclusively with the Harper government.

“The blame game is a sign of a government failing to absorb the lessons of defeat.”

He pointed to what he termed Canadian neglect of Africa and China, and lack of action at the Copenhagen climate-change conference last year.

He also criticized Ottawa’s handling of a new conflict with the United Arab Emirates involving airline landing rights in Canada.

New Democratic Party critic Paul Dewar called the seat loss “devastating for our country’s reputation. We have lost our reach,” he said.

The Ottawa Centre MP lamented, “if we are not at the table we cannot get the job done. We cannot have influence with respect to UN reform, climate change and issues of peace and security.”

Veteran diplomat Colin Robertson said he was surprised and disappointed by Tuesday’s vote, having “underestimated bloc politics at the UN.”

The senior fellow at Carleton University’s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs said Canada must not be discouraged.

“Internationalism serves Canadian interests. We should not disengage.”

byaffe@vancouversun.com

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Despite asbestos risk, ship-breaking still a viable industry

Despite asbestos risk, ship-breaking still a viable industry in Bangladesh

In late September, news came from Dhaka, Bangladesh that the State Minister for Environment and Forest, Hasan Mahmud, and the national government were in the midst of finalizing a policy to ensure that the ship-breaking industry would operate without polluting the environment. To prevent the elimination of the ship-building industry, which Mahmud claims will turn Bangladesh into a “market for foreign ironmongers,” the government is hoping to establish a separate zone for this industry.

Ruling Awami League lawmaker and Chief of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour and Employment Ministry, M. Israfil Alam, however, believes that ship-breaking is an extremely hazardous and polluting industry and is demanding its immediate closure. Israfil supported his demands by citing the High Court in Hyderabad, India ban on all ship scrapping.

“Our High Court gave some directives for the ship breaking yards but the owners seldom comply with those directives. They are making our environment more vulnerable by bringing in abandoned ships loaded with asbestos which is very harmful for public health,” said Israfil, who is entirely correct about the danger of asbestos within the shipbuilding and breaking industry.

Asbestos is a naturally occurring yet carcinogenic mineral long used in shipbuilding. Long term exposure to asbestos is known to cause asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma, a rare cancer of the lining of the chest and abdomen and the organs contained therein. Asbestos is most dangerous when it is disturbed, causing it to break and crumble, which in turn releases toxic fibers into the air that can be easily inhaled.

If they do not wear the proper protective gear and the industry is not properly regulated, ship-breakers are at a very high risk of breathing asbestos on a daily basis and contracting the oftentimes fatal pleural mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs. However, Minister Mahmud insists that all importers require clearance certificates that the ships do not carry any harmful substances and that the government is “now working on how to dismantle the vessels and ensure safe and hazard free environment at the same time.”

http://www.mesothelioma.com/asbestos_news_dhaka_bangladesh_10-12-2010.htm