Post Brexit US Trade Deal Raises Asbestos Fears in the UK

15 Mar 2018

Post Brexit US Trade Deal Raises Asbestos Fears in the UK The prospect of the United Kingdom leaving the EU carries a lot of expected changes in border policies, trade agreements and a whole host of different aspects of daily life. What couldn’t have been anticipated however, is that the withdrawal could be of concern to asbestos companies.

According to the joint leader of the UK Green Party, Caroline Lucas, a deal made with the bullish Donald Trump could lead to products that contain asbestos entering the UK market. With Theresa May particularly eager to strike a trade deal with the US, it could see a slackening off of certain asbestos regulations to allow these products to be sold in areas where they currently can’t be.

She said “Much of the likely cost of such a deal are already known, but the risk that we could see asbestos contaminated products come back on to the UK market is not”

Lucas added “We all know Donald Trump does not take prisoners when it comes to trade deals. If he decides that asbestos-contaminated products must be included in a deal, he will not give way”.

Criticism

In many quarters, particularly from the asbestos abatement industry, potentially sacrificing public safety in order to secure lucrative trade agreements has been widely criticized. US regulations allow for some products used as roofing materials and certain automotive parts to contain as much as 1% asbestos

Trump is driving a hard line and there could be much manoeuvring to be done if this scenario is to be prevented. Only time will tell if it will come to bear, potentially putting thousands of UK tradesmen’s and civilian lives at risk from mesothelioma, and here in Ireland we need to be aware of potential risks of this for us, going forward .

At OHSS Safety Consultants Ireland, we are experts in the field of asbestos surveying, assessment and management and we have been protecting people against the dangers of Asbestos Containing Materials (ACMs) for over 15 years.

If you would like to know more about the risks present in asbestos removal and disposal, visit our website www.ohss.ie or give us a call on 01 6905907.

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