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<title>CANADA INTENDS TO INTERVENE AT THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE</title>
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<p><font face="Courier"></font><font face="Univers Bold" size="+2"></font><font face="Univers Bold" size="+2">April 28, 1998 No. 103</font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font face="Univers Bold" size="+2">CANADA INTENDS TO INTERVENE </font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font face="Univers Bold" size="+2">AT THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE</font></p>
<p><font face="Courier">The Canadian government will use its permanent observer status at the Council of
Europe to raise Canada's concerns and to defend its position on the responsible
use of chrysotile asbestos fibre. </font></p>
<p><font face="Courier">A group of parliamentarians from the Council of Europe recently expressed its
views on the banning of asbestos. In accordance with usual procedure, the opinion
of the Parliamentary Assembly has since been referred to the Committee of
Ministers, which does not have legislative powers to ban a product.</font></p>
<p><font face="Courier">"The European Union and the Council of Europe are two separate and distinct
institutions. The Council of Europe has no authority over the administration or
regulation of trade," said Minister for International Trade Sergio Marchi. "In
concert with our partners -- the Government of Quebec, industry and unions, as
well as the five other chrysotile-producing countries -- we will continue to
actively defend the policy of the responsible use of chrysotile asbestos in this
arena, as we have in other forums."</font></p>
<p><font face="Courier">One of the positions taken by the Assembly was to favour the creation of a group
consisting of scientists with different points of view to undertake a comparative
study on the effects of different types of asbestos. The parliamentarians also
recognized that it is premature to say that these substitute products are
environmentally pure.</font></p>
<p><font face="Courier">"We remain confident that the Committee of Ministers will take into consideration
the specific properties of chrysotile fibres and the lack of scientific
information about the health risks and public safety risks associated with
substitute products," said Natural Resources Minister Ralph Goodale. "The
Canadian government's position is that this issue must be debated on scientific
grounds. In this context, we believe a ban on all types of asbestos fibres is not
a solution when you consider that scientific authorities from Europe have
recently expressed serious concerns about the human health risks associated with
replacement products."</font></p>
<p><font face="Courier">The Parliamentary Assembly reached its position last week despite strong concerns
expressed by Canadian parliamentarians at the meeting. Firm opposition was also
voiced by the Russian delegation, which insisted on the need to differentiate
between chrysotile fibres and other types of asbestos fibres.</font></p>
<p><font face="Courier">Russia and Canada are part of a coalition of six chrysotile asbestos-producing
countries, which are co-signatories of an aide-mémoire promoting the safe use of
chrysotile fibres that was presented last week to the European Commission. The
four other countries are Brazil, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. The
Canadian government undertook this initiative in co-operation with the Quebec
government and the chrysotile industry.</font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font face="Courier">- 30 -</font></p>
<p><font face="Courier">For further information, media representatives may contact:</font></p>
<p><font face="Courier">Leslie Swartman</font></p>
<p><font face="Courier">Office of the Minister for International Trade</font></p>
<p><font face="Courier">(613) 992-7332</font></p>
<p><font face="Courier">John Embury</font></p>
<p><font face="Courier">Press Attaché</font></p>
<p><font face="Courier">Natural Resources Canada</font></p>
<p><font face="Courier">(613) 996-2007</font></p>
<p><font face="Courier">Media Relations Office</font></p>
<p><font face="Courier">Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade</font></p>
<p><font face="Courier">(613) 995-1874</font></p>
<p><font face="Courier">This document is also available on the Department of Foreign Affairs and
International Trade Internet site: http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca</font></p>
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