Countries OK Limit in Chemicals Trade

GENEVA - Governments agreed Monday to add 14 hazardous chemicals to a list which restricts the trade of dangerous substances, but failed for a second straight year to include the most common form of asbestos.

The list was updated on the first day of a ministerial meeting of signatories to the Rotterdam Convention - a treaty which came into force in February.

The convention was negotiated in 1998 to give a quick, easy way for nations, especially developing ones, to assess the hazards of chemicals and pesticides and decide whether to permit their import. The United States has signed the treaty but has yet to ratify it.

The new chemicals, which include two lead additives for gasoline and several highly toxic pesticides, will be added to the 27 substances already on the list, such as DDT, Lindane and mercury compounds.

Four forms of asbestos were added, but countries are still deadlocked on whether to include white, or chrysotile, asbestos, which accounts for 94 percent of international trade.

Asbestos, a naturally occurring mineral, is covered by the treaty's definition of a chemical as a substance "either manufactured or obtained from nature."

It was widely used in the past as a fire retardant and for insulation, but it has been increasingly phased out because the fibers were found to cause cancer when inhaled. Although substitutes are available, asbestos is still used in seals, gaskets, brakes and armaments, as well as in cement.

The asbestos industry is valued at around $300 million annually. Russia is by far the biggest producer, followed by Canada, China and Brazil.

The opponents of including chrysotile asbestos have mostly been the major exporting countries.

The issue likely will be taken up again at the next ministerial meeting, planned for next year, U.N. officials said.