Automotive News Canada - May 2017 - 13

13

* MAY 2017

Asbestos-parts imports in sharp decline ahead of 2018 ban
Government
responds
to perceived delay
by saying the ban
is 'incredibly
fast timing'
By ROBERT BOSTELAAR
O T TAWA C O R R E S P O N D E N T

OTTAWA - THE FLOW OF
asbestos brake shoes into
Canada fell by nearly onethird in 2016, even as regulators prepare to give the
aftermarket industry another year and a half to use up
existing inventory.
According to new figures
from the federal government,
imports of friction materials
containing the cancer-causing mineral - mainly automotive brake and clutch parts
- slipped to $4.4 million last
year from $6.4 million in 2015.
The decline came amidst
growing warnings about the
health risks for auto technicians and others who handle
asbestos parts. In December,
Canada announced plans
to join other nations in outlawing asbestos imports and
use, but signaled that the ban
won't take effect until late
2018.
While some have called for
an immediate ban, the government official charged with
shaping the law says the complex process is moving as
quickly as possible.
"Two years is incredibly
fast timing for brand new
regulations," Gwen Goodier,
executive director of the
chemicals management division at Environment and
Climate Change Canada, said
in an interview.
"Typically regulations,
even amendments, take three
years or longer because under
the Canadian Environmental
Protection Act we have an
obligation to be transparent
and to allow the opportunity
for stakeholders to comment,"
Goodier added.
Even with the ban in place,
however, asbestos products
might not immediately disappear from the market. A government report published in

April suggests that products
imported or manufactured
before the law becomes official could still be legally sold
and used.
There may be little need
for the provision, however.
The Automotive Industries
Association (AIA) of Canada
says the largest aftermarket
supply chains have already
taken steps to ensure their
products are not made with
asbestos.
"Those would have been
the most impacted with timelines for implementation,
because in fact they would

have to cycle through inventory," said AIA President JeanFrançois Champagne.
Canadian Labour Congress
President Hassan Yusuff said
he is satisfied with the timetable for implementing the ban.
"We would like to have it
done yesterday but, be realistic," Yusuff said. "You can't
develop public policy in a
vacuum. You have to give it
time."
Yusuff is also heartened
by the federal government's
support for adding chrysotile, the most common asbestos form, to an international

list of hazardous substances.
Canada until 2012 was a major
exporter of chrysotile and
had opposed earlier efforts to
place it on the list.
Many thought asbestos had
disappeared from Canadian
products after it was listed as
a toxic substance under the
federal environment act in
1999.
The CLC and others,
including Guelph, Ont.-based
ABS Friction, pressed for a
ban on imports after the revelation that low-cost brake
products containing asbestos
were coming to Canada from

Russia, China and other countries that still mine asbestos.
The AIA, representing
the aftermarket, "strongly
supported" the ban - even
while asking for a transition
period - but Champagne
said that the group struggled
with initial confusion over
whether asbestos was even
present in imported parts
and the potential impact of
regulations.
"We've certainly taken all
the right steps since to ensure
that we are being very transparent and communicating
that," he said. - ANC

*Up to 80 kilometres at up to 80 kph.
Repairable in limited circumstances.
Contact a Bridgestone retailer for details.

Asbestos use in brake
parts is already in decline,
but when the ban was
announced in late 2016, even
the aftermarket industry was
unsure if asbestos was present in imported parts.
http://www.atlastire.com http://www.tiredistribution.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - May 2017
