Prime minister is ‘totally opposed' to asbestos trade

• Prime minister is 'totally opposed' to asbestos trade

The UK government deplores Canada's plans to produce millions of tonnes of asbestos for export to the developing world (Risks 563), David Cameron has indicated. The response to Labour's Jim Dobbin came at prime minister's questions on 11 July. The Heywood and Middleton MP, who had pledged to raise the issue when he attended an Action Mesothelioma Day event on 6 July, had said: 'The government rightly donate millions in overseas aid to developing countries, including India, to eradicate poverty and disease. Despite that, the Canadian government, including the government of Quebec, are to invest 58 million dollars in an asbestos-producing mine; this is not for use in Canada, of course, but to export to developing countries, including India, which will put thousands of poor people at risk from deadly asbestosis and mesothelioma. Will the prime minister and the international development secretary encourage international communities, including the World Health Organisation (WHO), to oppose this quite outrageous decision?' The prime minister responded: 'I will be seeing the head of the WHO later today, so I can raise this issue with them. As the hon. Gentleman knows, asbestos is banned in the UK, in the EU and in a number of other countries. We are totally opposed to its use anywhere and would deplore its supply to developing countries. The Department for International Development does not provide funding to projects that encourage developing countries to import asbestos from any country or for any purpose. We are not aware that DFID funds have been used in that way at all and I would take urgent action were they to have been, but he makes a strong point about the Indian situation.' Sources say the prime minister's discussions with WHO director-general Margaret Chan led to a flurry of activity within the organisation.

Prime minister's questions, Hansard, 11 July 2012.

International Ban Asbestos Secretariat.