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08/02/2007
Sixteen trade union confederations in five Andean countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela) have helped compile a document entitled “Ban asbestos in the Andean sub-region”, written with the support of Dr Eva Delgado and published by the Andean Labour Institute (ILA). The document is based on a survey of trade union leaders, and looks at asbestos use in the different countries involved.
Colombia is an asbestos-producer which both uses its own output and imports from Canada (about 19 000 tonnes in 2005). Bolivia produces little asbestos, while Peru has shut down its asbestos mines. Most asbestos used in the region is imported, therefore, mainly from Canada. Actual figures are in short supply. Venezuela is claimed to have bought in just under 4 000 tonnes and Peru more than 4 600 tonnes of asbestos in 2004. No precise figures are given for Ecuador and Bolivia. The document chronicles asbestos use in all countries in the region - chiefly in asbestos cement and brake lining manufacture, and textile industry applications.
Unsurprisingly, the various local Eternit trading entities feature among the firms involved. In Colombia and Peru, the firms still belong to the European multinational Etex (formed out of Eternit-Belgium). Elsewhere, the linkages between asbestos-using firms and European multinationals are less immediately evident (Duralit in Bolivia and Eternit in Ecuador, for instance). The document shows that the region’s trade unions have been fairly slow in coming to an awareness of the problems of asbestos.
There are almost no figures on the number of workers exposed or asbestos-related diseases for most countries. Information is lacking both for countries that have ratified ILO Convention 162 (Bolivia, Colombia and Ecuador), and those that have not (Peru and Venezuela). This suggests that the Convention is largely unapplied and ineffective in this part of the world. Banning asbestos is now a priority for all the trade unions. The authorities in two countries - Venezuela and Peru - have taken steps down this road, but have not yet got to a full ban. The governments of two other countries - Colombia and Bolivia - are against an asbestos ban. Ecuador’s government has not yet taken an official line.
The trade unions also argue that dumping asbestos-containing waste - especially in the Alalay lagoon in Cochabamba (Bolivia) and the Rimac river in Lima (Peru) - is a serious environmental hazard. This united front by the region’s big trade union confederations is bound to help bring an asbestos ban nearer.
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