Lying to governments, spreading false information, spying on activists, politicians and victim groups, bribing officials, union members and medical experts, making illegal deals and manipulating debates: for decades, the asbestos industry has pulled out all the stops in order to be able to keep selling its harmful products – in full knowledge of the deadly consequences. I bring up just a couple of examples here of how it will stop at nothing.

Hard-fought bans
Around a century ago, European asbestos cement manufacturers formed a cartel. They established largely illegal practices to protect their profits: price fixing, dividing up markets and anti-competitive agreements to tie in  clients. When the US Environmental Protection Agency planned the gradual phasing-out of asbestos use in the mid-1980s, the lobby fought this with every possible means, actively supported by the Canadian government. Their claims unfortunately met with success: on 18 October 1991 the American asbestos ban and the gradual  phaseout were overturned: as of 21 February 2022, asbestos has no longer been banned in the US.
After the decision to lift the US ban the French government for its part announced a ban in 1996; as a  countermeasure, Canada made a complaint to the World Trade Organization (WTO). However, on 12 March 2001  the WTO Appellate Body confirmed the right of the governments of its member states to protect their citizens  from toxic substances such as asbestos.

Punishments by the lobby
Elsewhere the asbestos lobby managed to stave off anticipated bans: when the Brazilian Supreme Court banned asbestos in 2017, the Brazilian asbestos producing state Goiás passed a bill permitting continued extraction. In 2018 the Russian government imposed an embargo on the import of Ceylon tea to punish the Sri Lankan government for its planned ban on asbestos imports, whereupon the plans were unceremoniously abandoned. In  June 2017 the Ukrainian ministry of health announced an asbestos ban – it was annulled by the ministry of  justice and the state regulatory bodies. When the Ukrainian parliament proposed a ban on asbestos in February 2021, the industry reacted with asbestos promotion and the false report that, in the event of adoption, all  asbestos roofs would need to be removed. Owing to the conflict in Ukraine the Russian asbestos industry could  not it-self intervene, so the Kazakh ambassador to Ukraine and the Kazakh minister of trade and integration took on its lobbying role. The ban continues to be in abeyance.

Spied-on activists
To these and other known interventions can be added what takes place behind closed doors. The asbestos industry can only prosper in countries in which there are no democratic institutions that could hold them accountable. And it pays PR people, lawyers and politicians to avert bans. Like many other activists, I was also forced to become acquainted with the ugly face behind the mask. From 2012 to 2016 I was targeted by a British spy, who received over 600,000 dollars to learn about the activities and plans of the Global Ban Asbestos Network. The covert operation with the codename “Project Spring” was commissioned and paid for by shady Eastern Europeans with links to the asbestos industry. But we will not be intimidated. The future is asbestos-free.
Further information: www.ibasecretariat.org