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Promote establishment of a collaborative base for environmental cooperation in Asia
| Project Name | Technical Assistance for Measures against
Asbestos in Asian Countries  (776KB) |
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| Location | Indonesia, Philippines | ||||||
| Project Background | Asbestos contains positive features such as its spinning and heat-resistance properties; therefore, Japan had used asbestos-containing products extensively. However, health problems caused by exposure to asbestos have become a serious social problem in Japan, thus production, import, transfer, provision and use of asbestos-containing products became banned under the principle of Japan as a general rule. Meanwhile in some Asian countries, asbestos is still used even today. These countries should take urgent measures to resolve this situation, or else there is a greater fear that they will experience same problems occurred in Japan. Therefore, we contribute to promote countermeasures against asbestos in Asian countries, using the technology and experience that we have accumulated over the years. | ||||||
| Objectives | This project is conducted through dispatch of administrative officers and experts and by attending workshops in Asian countries. The purpose of this project is sharing Japan's knowledge and technology on asbestos, and promoting information exchanges on the current and future situations of asbestos issues in Asian countries. | ||||||
| Member Countries | Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Viet Nam (alphabetical order) | ||||||
| Project Achievements | In the middle of February 2010, a team of administrative officers and experts was dispatched
to the Philippines. The team exchanged information and opinions with officials of
the Environment Management Bureau, Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(DENR-EMB, the contact point of the Philippine side), other related government departments,
industry associations, and trade unions. Field trips to the manufacturing plants and
research institution were also conducted. The workshop, co-organized by the government of Indonesia was held on 17-18 March 2010 in Jakarta with the administrative officer from Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Viet Nam, and academic experts from Japan. Participants explained the present situation and challenges against asbestos in their own countries and exchanged opinions. Japan's experience and ongoing measures were presented together with a demonstration and explanation of asbestos analysis methods. As a result, the participating countries agreed to continue the cooperative approaches and also focus should be placed on information and knowledge sharing and trainings. Additionally, participants agreed on the importance of raising awareness of citizens, strengthening cooperation between ministries and agencies, and developing incentive mechanisms which promote asbestos management by industries.
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| Planned Activities | By using the experiences of technology and measures that Japan has accumulated, it is planned that transfer of information and technology such as monitoring techniques and the trainings will be conducted to provide information on the current situation of asbestos. | ||||||
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