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Countries that have Banned Asbestos

Current Asbestos Bans and Restrictions

National Asbestos Bans:1

Algeria

Czech Republic*

Iceland

Malta*

Saudi Arabia

Argentina

Denmark

Ireland

Mongolia5

Seychelles

Australia

Egypt

Israel3

Mozambique

Slovakia*

Austria

Estonia*

Italy

Netherlands

Slovenia

Bahrain
Finland

Japan

New Caledonia

South Africa

Belgium

France

Jordan4

Norway

Spain

Brunei

Gabon

Korea (South)

Oman

Sweden

Bulgaria

Germany

Kuwait

Poland

Switzerland

Chile

Greece*

Latvia

Portugal*

Turkey

Croatia2
Honduras

Lithuania*

Qatar

United Kingdom

Cyprus*

Hungary*

Luxembourg

Romania

Uruguay

Note. Singapore and Taiwan have been removed from the ban list (Oct 2010). Although no further use of
asbestos is anticipated in these two countries we have no hard evidence that comprehensive formal
bans exist in either Singapore or Taiwan.

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1 Exemptions for minor uses are permitted in some countries listed; however, all countries listed must
have banned the use of all types of asbestos. Additionally, we seek to ensure that all general use of
asbestos, i.e. in construction, insulation, textiles, etc., has been expressly prohibited. The exemptions
usually encountered are for specialist seals and gaskets; in a few countries there is an interim period
where asbestos brake pads are permitted.

2 Croatia banned asbestos as of January 1, 2006. Six weeks later, the Ministry of Economy, under
political and commercial pressure, forced the Ministry of Health to reverse its position with the result
that the manufacture of asbestos-containing products for export was permitted again.

3 As the result of a series of restrictions on the use of asbestos introduced from the 1980s onwards, a de
facto ban on asbestos exists in Israel.

4 An immediate ban on amosite and crocidolite was imposed on August 16, 2005; a grace period of one
year was allowed for the phasing out of the use of tremolite, chrysotile, anthophyllite and actinolite in
friction products, brake linings and clutch pads. After August 16, 2006, all forms of asbestos were to be
banned for all uses.
5 Although an order banning the import of all types of asbestos including chrysotile was adopted in July
2010, the enforcement of this legislation is not without problems.

* January 1, 2005 was the deadline for prohibiting the new use of chrysotile, other forms of asbestos
having been banned previously, in all 25 Member States of the European Union; compliance with this
directive has not been verified in countries with an asterisk (*). As of May 2009 there are 27 Member
States, with Romania and Bulgaria joining the EU in 2007.

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