Document K696gjEa84KD2G8YwxaJGrmrX

ASBESTOS INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION GLOUCESTER PLACE, LONDON WiH jHL, ENGLAND Telephone; 01-4S6 33Ji/j Telegrams; Intag London jZT.er, n 2.E.C. ADVISORY COUNCIL OF THE BESTOS INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION ` Meeting of 20th March, 1978 AGENDA. Minutes of last meeting. European Parliament 2.1 Report on distribution of A.I.A. statement 2.2 Report of action by A.I.A. members and reactions 2.3 Further actions required ^ 3. .DG V 3.1 3.2 Report of Luxemburg meeting of working party 1 of Advisory Committee February 15/16 Action by A.I.A. in anticipation of plenary session of Advisory Committee DG.m 4.1 4.2 Report of visit of Commission officials to Kapelle Eternit factory and other contacts Preparation for next meeting on proposed amend ment April 6th to 7th 5. Economic and social Committee 5.1 Visit of study group to Kapelle Eternit factory 5.2 Report of contacts by Dr. Costa 5.3 Report of meetings of January 24 and March 9. .6 Other business 7. Date of next meeting UCC 007875 E.E.C. ADVISORY COUNCIL of the A. I. A .___ AlA/EEC/B-l 21.03.78 Minutes of the meeting of 20th March, 1978, W.T.C., Brussels. Mr. K. THIELE Mr. E. van der REST Mr. Y. ALEXANDRE j Mr. D. BOUIGE i Denmark - In the chair Belgium France Dr. M. LEMAN j Germany (W V A Z) Mr. G. SCHMIDT ) " (W V A) Mr. B. TAYLOR Ireland Mr. J. van HAAGEN Netherlands Mr. W. PENNEY U.K. M. A.A. CROSS Director General A.I.A. Sir Neville STACK A.I.A. Mr. H. VANHERLE - Secretary to the Council Excused : Dr. E. COSTA Mr. A. EYBEN 1. General and comments on minutes of previous meeting. 1.1. It was agreed that the A.I.A.'s branch dealing with E.E.C. matters should be referred to as the "E.E.C, ADVISORY COUNCIL OF THE A.I.A.", which is the title advised by UNICE. For internal correspondence, this title could be abbreviated as A. I. A./E. E. C. 1.2, In order to help the members to explain to outsiders the identity and aims of the A. I. A. /E. E. C., A.I.A. /London will prepare a draft for a letter of introduction which could be used as a "visiting-card" for the A. I. A./E, E. C. . UCC 007876 A i 8 1 30 1.3. All participants were supplied with an "aide m6moire" on E.E.C. matters (including a diagram of the various institutions and several membershiplists) prepared by Sir Neville STACK and with a 2 page diagram on the same subject prepared by the Secretary. . Corrections, if needed, should reach the Secretariat before 15 April. Afterwards, the Secretariat will take care of continuous updating of this information. 1.4. Mr. BOUIGE observed that his wording for the heading referred to in point 4.9 of the minutes of the 02.02.78 meeting, had been incorrectly reported and should have read "Packing materials and gaskets" i.e. leaving out the word "seals", which was in the opinion of the French industry people, too vague a term, covering too many things. As the U.K. members insisted on keeping the term " seals" included in the heading. It was decided that the French and U.K. members would devise a suitable wording after the meeting. ' ; ; , ' 1.5. Mr. BOUIGE further asked to include in the minutes a remark by Mr. JOIN which had been omitted in the minutes of the previous meeting, and which should read as follows : " Mr. JOIN, also Secretary of the Federation of European manu- " facturers of friction materials (F. E.M.F.M*.) said that the . " question Had been put to the Federation at the request of ; " Mr. CROSS and the friction materials manufacturers had opposed " the principle of a volutary labelling system, of which Mr. CROSS " had been informed by letter". 2. The European Parliament's motion on the health hazards of asbestos ( " The Evans"Report17)-! 2.1. Mr. van der REST confirmed that copies of the A.I.A./E.E.C. comments had been remitted to Messrs. CORDY and SILON for distribution to all participants at the D.G.V/F meeting at Luxemburg, 15-16 February. ' A 8 ! 33 UCC 007877 Mr. PENNEY doubted whether these copies had actually been distributed at that meeting, as the U.K. delegate did not mention this when he was handed over a copy by Mr. PENNEY afterwards. Mr. van der REST would contact Mr. CORDY on the subject. 2. 2.Mr. PENNEY insisted that A. I. A./E. E. C. members should be informed immediately of initiatives on Community level by indi vidual members (such as the distribution of copies via Messrs. CORDY and SILON), especially when national representatives of other countries are involved. 2.3. Dr. COSTA would probably meet Mr. COLOMBO on 23rd March. No mass distribution to Commission 8 M.P.'s of the A.I.A./ E.E.C. comments on the Evans Report should take place before the results of this meeting were known, but, where personal contacts with European M.P.'s existed, copies could already be handed over if this was thought useful. . 2.4. Mr. CROSS reported that some M.P.'s must already have received copies indirectly, since Mr. EVANS had put forward a question in the U.K. Parliament on the identity of the A.I.A./E.E.C. Advisory Council. 2.5. Mr. SCHMIDT reported on a document prepared by the "Wirtschaftsverband Asbest'1, as a reaction against the action by E.E.C. institutions aiming to reduce the use of asbestos containing goods. This document, intended for the German Ministries of Internal Affairs, Labour, Social Affairs, Health, etc..., as well as trade associations, institutes and medical people in contact with the Asbestos Industry, seemed useful for A. I. A. /E.E.C. ` members as well, and A. I.A. /London would circulate an English translation. A ;8 n UCC 007.878- 2.6. Dr. LEMAN informed about the coming E.P. hearing on carcinogens, scheduled for 22-23 May (Brussels). . It was believed that a special "ad hoc" Committee had been set up for this matter within the E.P. Dr. JAHN would be the reporter. 'Dr. LEMAN would try and contact him before Easter, in order to hear about the members of this special Committee, the experts invited, and in order to pass on to him the names of experts the A.I.aTE.E.C. would like to see invited as well. These should be chosen, among people with personal expertise in carcinogens, and possible Candida- # tures from U.K., Denmark, Germany and France were con sidered (Dr. MURRAY, Professor FOURNIER). Members would send to Dr. LEMAN full addresses of the can didates they proposed. 3. D,G. V. 3.1. Mr. van der REST deplored the absence or negative attitude of industry representatives from several countries at the last D.G. V/F meeting (Luxemburg 15-16 February, 1978), which hampered the efforts made by Messrs. SILON and CORDY in support of our views on the use of crocidolite. ` 3.2. Industry representatives unable to attend important meetings of this kind should try and make the Chairman (Mr. SILON) accept a deputy to assist in their name. 3.3. As it was essential for A.I.A./E.E.C. members to get quick andfull information on the outcome of such meeting, members were asked to urge their national delegates in the E.E.C. institutions to circulate their personal minutes as soon as possible, the official minutes usually becoming available with great delay. No minutes have been received from Dr. ROBOCK, who took part in the D.G. V/F meeting of 15-16 February. UCC 007879 A i0 141 3.4. The wording of the statement on crocidolite, on which Mr. SILON achieved the D.G.V/F's working party I to agree (concentration of blue should be as low as possible, with 0, 2 f/ml as an objective) was received with mixed feelings. It was agreed that the A. I. A. /E.E. C. -would accept this settlement only in case the 2f/ml limit for crocidolite turned out to be unattainable. 3.5. The reference in Mr. SILON's statement, in favour of the mem brane filter method + optical microscopy for routine asbestos dust monitoring was considered a positive achievment, which should be #- brought up in discussions with national industry and trade union delegates. Mr. BOUIGE would circulate a paper prepared in France on the * matter of optical versus electron, microscopy. 3.6. Members were advised that automatic bag openers are not suitable for many small industries. A. I. A. policy should therefore be to support the use of any bag opening technique that assures dust concentrations below the standard. This viewpoint should particular ly be brought to the attention of the union and industry delegates of the D.G.V/F's working party 1. 3.7. The "draft opinion" prepared by Mr. SILON's working group would be presented to the Commission's "Advisory Committee for Safety Hygiene and Health protection at Work", which is to meet in plenary session somewhere between 17 and 20th of April. The exact date of this session would be communicated as soon as known. Each A. I.A./E.E. C. member should contact his national delegate before this date. UCC 007880 A8 4.1. At the next meeting of D.G. Ill/A 2 (now planned for 27 and 28 April), the A. I. A./E.E.C. should be represented by one member per country, an A. I. A. representation and a medical doctor. 4.2. After discussion, it was agreed that Dr. MURRAY would be the most suitable candidate, knowing Dr. HUNTER personally and being well up in the matter. Mr. CROSS would contact him. 4.3. A.I.A./E.E.C. members were urged to be available in Brussels ' on both 27 and 28th April for consultation with D.G. m/A 2. 4.4. Mr. SCHMIDT reported about discussions going on in Germany * about proposals from the German Ministry of Labour for amending L . - -- the E.E.C. directive 76/769/CEE. ^ Ha-HCii'i'*-}. ----* -- 1 -------------------------------------------- iC mis w The German A,I.A./E.E.C. member would inform about the T?cU- S*-'*4 ^ outcome. 4.5. The German objections on the A.I.A.'s proposals for amending 5*4 ----------the E.E.C. directive 76/769/CEE (which would be transmitted to the A.I.A./E.E.C. by Dr. LEMAN, ref. point 4.8 of mi . nutes of previous meeting) have not been transmitted. Dr. LEMAN now affirms that there was disagreement only on some details of .minor importance which did not require a written statement. 4.6. A paper by Mr. WOOD (Central Asbestos) was remitted to all participants. It contained reflection on the A.I.A.'s thinking on blue asbestos and in particular on the way the A.I.A. was tackling the question of the use of blue asbestos in asbestoscement sheets. Comments by the A.I.A. on this paper were distributed as well and analysed by the members. They agreed in principle with the views expressed in these comments, but re-writing of some points was considered necessary. UCC 007881 Ap L 4.7. In connection with this paper, Mr. CROSS expressed the feeling that a new set of arguments for defending the use of blue asbestos should be developped, and mast members, after discus sion, supported this feeling. Two such arguments were : - The use of crocidolite did not necessarily increase the health ' risk. Members were invited to supply figures from companies having used crocidolite for a considerable time and showing, thanks to precautions, good health records. ' - The prohibition of blue asbestos will have far reaching con* sequences which are overlooked by many. Fibre suppliers will not be able to satisfy the extra demand for grade 4 Chrysotile in replacement of blue asbestos, which will lead to a general slowdown of the industry. EC OSO C (Economic and Social Committee) 5.1. Comments were given on the visit to the Kapelle Eternit factory on 09.03.78 by a delegation of Commission officials from ECOSOC's study Groupe "Asbestos hazards for Man and the Environment" (including the Chairman, Mr. van RENS). The attention was drawn once more on the importance of personal contacts with E.E.C. officials, which had proved to be far more efficient than contacts by writing. The industries problems and achievments were much better under stood by outsiders through a visit combined with a discussion than through sending of informative literature, which most often failed to make any impact. 5.2. French copies of the "Preliminary draft study" on Health and Environmental Hazards arising from the use of Asbestos (by Mr. EBOLI) were distributed during the meeting. UCC 007882 A ;8 U/ Mr. CROSS would circulate the English version together with his comments on this document. Dr. LEMAN would send his own comments on this paper to Mr. CROSS. 5.3. Members were remembered -that this document, being still at the stage of a "Preliminary draft study" was a confidential one. Li this contest, point 3.4 of the previous meeting minutes was recalled to the attention of the participants, where it was stressed that "confidential" documents * should be 1 used with caution. 5.4. It was reminded that the next meeting of ECOSOC's study group on asbestos was the last one and that the final version of Mr. EBOLI's report would depend on the outcome of this last meeting. 5.5. The Secretary was requested to contact the ECOSOC's secretariat (Ravenstein, Brussels) in order to find out where the French members, Mr. SOULAT and Mr, CHABROL, could be contacted. Information to be passed on to the French A.I.A.E.E.C. members. Here again all A. I.A. /E. E. C. members were requested to contact their national delegates before the meeting. 6. Various 6.1. Mr. PENNEY showed stickers used in U.K. for labelling of asbestos-containing insulation board. ' For other countries, preference went to the Danish and Austrian formula, where health warnings for asbestos-cement products are included in a leaflet containing various other kinds of useful information on the product, such as composition, recommenda tions for transport, handling, stacking, etc... A i 8 14b UCC 007883 6.2. All A. I. A. /E. E. C. members were requested to sound their national delegates in the E.E.C, institutions (with the necessary caution), in order to find out where and when the subject of toxic waste and labelling (in connection with asbestos) would be dealed with. 7. Date of next meeting. The meeting, planned for 19th April, 1978, in London, was cancelled * in favour of a meeting in Brussels at the eve of the next D.G. HI meeting. The next A. I.A. /E.E. C. meeting will therefore take place on 26th April, 14 h. at. the Brussels W.T.C. HEV/J3. UCC 007884 fc 8'4 '.5