Cabinet Approved A Proposal To Control The Import And Use Of Asbestos And To Prohibit The Asbestos Related Products

The Cabinet has approved a proposal made by President Maithripala Sirisena when he was the Minister of Mahaweli Development and Environment to control the import and use of Asbestos from 01st of January 2018 and to prepare an active programme to prohibit the Asbestos related products from 01st of January 2024.

Asbestos  which identified by the World Health Organization(WHO)as contained the substance "Carcinogen" which causes Cancer is used for many products like roofing sheet products,cement pipes,floor tiles,papers,break pads of vehicles and ropes and around 80% of the Asbestos imported to Sri Lanka are being used for roof sheet production it has been revealed.

Although WHO identified that  all kind of Asbestos  including white and blue Asbestos are  containing the Cancer agent "Carcinogen",Sri Lanka has prohibited the importing of Blue Asbestos to the country since 1987.