Ukraine Asbestos Ban: Round 3
Judicial proceedings continued last month over the illegitimacy of action taken by Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the State Regulatory Service (SRS) to quash the national ban on all types of asbestos including chrysotile adopted by the Ministry of Health (MoH) in March 2017 and invalidated the following October.1 On April 18, 2018, the litigants attended the second hearing of the proceedings instigated by the MoH to effect the reinstatement of the prohibitions.
 Kiev District Administrative Court |
Attending the session at the Kiev District Administrative Court on the plaintiffs’ side were representatives of the MoH and the campaigning non-governmental organization “MAMA-86;” on the defendants’ side were representatives of the MoJ, the SRS and the Ukrainian Chrysotile Association, an asbestos industry trade association.
MAMA-86 applied for leave to submit additional documentation to the court regarding the health risks posed by chrysotile (white) asbestos. The defendants argued against this application stating that prior to 2001 all asbestos was regarded as the same with no distinctions made between amphiboles and chrysotile. The court agreed that additional material could be submitted. A close observer of the case said that: “This decision by the Court was a positive development as it will allow the plaintiffs to present the latest international evidence regarding the hazards posed by human exposures to chrysotile asbestos.”
MAMA-86 also filed a request to postpone the next hearing pending receipt of information from the Institute for Economics and Forecasting of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine regarding the economic impact of the asbestos prohibition in Ukraine; the court ordered a short delay, as a result of which the next session will be held on May 16, 2018.
May 2, 2018
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1 Kazan-Allen L. Ukraine Asbestos Ban: Round 2, March 8, 2018.
http://www.ibasecretariat.org/lka-ukraine-asbestos-ban-round-2.php
