§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions for what reasons the report of July 1996 produced by international experts within the framework of the International Programme of18W Chemical Safety has remained confidential; if he will (a) publish it and (b) place it in the Library; and if he will make a statement on its conclusions in respect of the impact on public health of chrysolite. [43606]
§ Angela EagleThe Government do not control, or have responsibility for, the publications of the International Programme for Chemical Safety (IPCS). IPCS is a joint venture of the United Nations Environment Programme, the International Labour Organisation and the World Health Organisation. It produced a draft Environmental Health Criteria document on chrysotile following a meeting of its Task Group held in July 1996. The final report is due to be published in Autumn 1998, following revisions and translations. It is not confidential, and details of the Health Evaluation, the Conclusions and the Recommendations are available either from the IPCS in Geneva or on the Internet. I shall arrange for the Library to obtain details of the draft report and to obtain a copy of the final report once it is published.
The draft report contains a number of conclusions which are consistent with current Government policy on asbestos.