OTTAWA - The prime minister celebrated St-Jean-Baptiste in the heart of the asbestos industry as Canada's delegation to an international summit drew ire by keeping the carcinogen off a hazardous-chemicals list.Stephen Harper's Conservative government steadfastly refused to let asbestos be added to a United Nations treaty called the Rotterdam Convention.
On Friday, Canada was joined by Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam in blocking the move. Countries must now wait two years for another crack at getting asbestos on the list.
"The conference did not reach consensus on listing chrysotile," UN Environment Program spokesman Michael Stanley-Jones said in an email.
"It annexed the draft decision to the meeting report for consideration at COP6 in 2013."
A pesticide called Endosulfan, which is banned in many countries but still used in others, was added to the list, he added.
Listing asbestos on Annex III of the convention would force exporters such as Canada to warn recipient countries of any health hazards. Those countries could then refuse asbestos imports if they didn't think they could handle the product safely.
When inhaled, asbestos fibres can scar the lungs and lead to a rare form of lung cancer, mesothelioma, for which there is no known cure.
Canada has twice before played a lead role in blocking the inclusion of asbestos under the Rotterdam Convention, which operates by consensus, and the country did so again at this week's summit.
When other asbestos-exporting countries changed their minds and dropped their opposition to the listing, Canada alone came out against the move.
The earth negotiations bulletin published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development reports other countries were "dumbstruck" by Canada's reasons for blocking the listing.
Full Article
Source: Winnepeg Free Press
No comments:
Post a Comment