Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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.