WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.97.55
21February 1997
ORGANIZATION
(97-0717)
Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
NOTIFICATION
Thefollowing notification isbeing circulated inaccordance withArticle 10.6.
1. Member toAgreement notifying: FRANCE
Ifapplicable, name oflocalgovernment involved (Articles 3.2and7.2):
2. Agency responsible: Ministry ofLabour andSocial Affairs
Directorate ofLabour Relations
20bis,rued'Estrées
75700 Paris O7SP
Agency orauthority designated tohandle comments regarding thenotification canbe
indicated ifdifferent from above:
Ministry ofIndustry, PostandTelecommunications andForeign Trade,
Directorate-General ofIndustrial Strategies -SQUALPI
22,rueMonge
75005 Paris
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X],2.10.1 [X],5.6.2 [],5.7.1 [],other:
4. Products covered (HSorCCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICSnumbers maybeprovided inaddition, where applicable): Asbestos
5. Title, number ofpages andlanguage(s) ofthenotified document: Decree 96-11.33 of
24December 1996 Concerning theProtection ofWorkers Against Risks Linked tothe
Inhalation ofAsbestos (2pages)
Order of24December 1996 Concerning theDeclaration Form forExceptions to
theBanonAsbestos.
Order of24December 1996 onExceptions totheBanonAsbestos.
6. Description ofcontent: Thepurpose oftheDecree istoprohibit asbestos orany
material orproduct containing asbestos, inthecontext ofprofessional orcommercial
use,involving themanufacture, possession forsale,marketing, sale,import ortransfer
onanyground whatsoever.
./.G/TBT/Notif.97.55
Page2
6. Description ofcontent (cont'd):
Thisgeneral principle ofabanisnevertheless tempered bythepossibility ofa
veryfewexceptions. These exceptions areauthorized onlyifthefollowing twocriteria
arefulfilled:
- Theuseofasbestos substitutes doesnot,inthepresent stateofscientific
knowledge, represent alesser risktoworkers 'health;
- theuseofsubstitute products doesnotprovide equivalent guarantees in
terms ofsafety ofuse(tightness ofseals, forexample).
Taking intoaccount theimpact oftechnological andscientific developments on
thereliability ofasbestos substitutes, Article 3ofthedraft provides thatadeclaration
must bemade every yearbytheheadoftheestablishment concerned totheeffect that,
given thepresent stateoftheartintechnology, thecontinuation oftheexception cannot
beavoided.
TheDecree provides foranannual review ofthelistofexceptions bythe
Council forthePrevention ofProfessional Risks, aconsultative body withtheMinistry
ofLabour.
7. Objective andrationale: Onthebasis oftheconclusions ofthereport drawn upatits
request bytheNational Institute forHealth andMedical Research (INSERM), the
Government laiddown theprinciple ofanasbestos banasfrom 1January 1997. This
banisaccompanied byaverysmall number ofexceptions, which arestrictly supervised
inorder toprotect workers andconsumers.
8. Relevant documents: Official Journal oftheFrench Republic of26December 1996,
pages 19126 andfollowing.
9. Proposed dateofadoption:
Proposed dateofentry intoforce:1January 1997
10. Final dateforcomments: Although theproposed measures onimports havealready been
putintoeffect, theFrench authorities encourage interested parties tosubmit their
comments, which willbeaccepted until15April 1997.
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X]oraddress andtelefax number ofother
body: (CINORTECH)