Retrograde Step by Government of Peru
At the end of December 2006, Peru's Department of Economy and Finances published a decree eliminating import tariffs on 2,894 products including livestock, capital goods, industrial supplies, various types of vegetable matter and minerals, including asbestos. Ministers estimate that this step, which will cost the government $259 million, will benefit 50,000 businesses.1
When the Government of India reduced import duty on asbestos fiber and asbestos-containing products, domestic asbestos consumption rose steeply. It is likely that this will also occur in Peru and the effects of this increase in asbestos use in a country where there are few, if any, health and safety regulations controlling hazardous occupational and environmental asbestos exposures will be seen in increasing rates of asbestos cancer and disease in years to come.
This is a retrograde step by a government which two years ago was actively considering plans to prohibit the use of all types of asbestos. In addition, Peru is a member of the Andean Community, a trade bloc consisting of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, which is supposedly considering the feasibility of a regional asbestos ban, having been recommended to take such a step in 2005 by its Employment Advisory Committee.
January 4, 2007
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1 MEF publica relacion de 2,894 bienes de capital e insumos industriales que tendrain arancel caro. December 28, 2006. Website: http://www.andina.com.pe/NoticiaDetalle.aspx?id=109991
