Geneva/Brussels, 09/11/2000 (Agence Europe) - The World Trade Organisation's (WTO) Appeal Body will publish its final verdict on the French asbestos embargo by the end of January. The European Union unsuccessfully defended the French move in arbitration and the measure has been back in the spotlight since Canada lodged an appeal on 23 October against the multilateral decision to endorse this trading restriction in the defence of the public interest. Canada felts that the experts had exceeded their mandate and gone beyond trade issues. "The special group's mandate was to determine whether the ban on asbestos by France was acceptable under the multilateral trading agreements. It did not mean deciding on the safety of applications or on the principle of safe use of chrysotile asbestos", protested the Canadian representatives in Geneva. All the same, Canada is not planning to question "a country's right to adopt regulations in the public interest or set up appropriate national protection measures, particularly to protect public health", it simply feels that "the French approach is excessive" compared with the "sufficient" measures that have been taken to cut the risks of using asbestos. "Safe use (in other words, without excessive risk, Ed) is sufficient to ensure the health and safety of workers and the general public", argues Canada, commenting that asbestos use is strictly regulated "in Canada, as in other countries". They added that, "the safe use principle is based on solid scientific foundations and is a responsible approach".
As the backdrop to this issue, Canada seems to be concerned about the precedent that this trade verdict might set, and for good reason: Canada not only provides 16% of the world output of asbestos, but it is also one of the main producers of other minerals and metals (such as aluminium, copper, nickel and zinc) which are also potentially or known heath hazards and are covered by the safe use principle. If Canada has focussed on the French embargo (despite the fact that several other countries also ban asbestos imports), it is because France was the first country to do so. France, incidentally, has also traditionally been Canada's first export market. Canada, then, is continuing its attacks on the embargo and is trying to refocus the multilateral procedure on the pure trading aspects of the dispute and the bending of WTO trade rules, since the Panel recognised that the French ban constitutes a discriminatory trade restriction (see EUROPE of 27 October, 27 July and 23 June). Canada is hoping that the appeals procedure will "clarify the scope of the Agreement on technical obstacles to trade" since Canada opposes the special group and "considers that this agreement must apply to general product bans like the ban on chrysotile asbestos".