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The World Trade Organization ( Wto )

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To the Minister of Foreign Affairs,

As I am sure you are quite aware, the trade and use of asbestos has always been a contested issue on and international scale. Canada itself was involved in an international trading dispute regarding asbestos with France, when the French government prohibited the import of all asbestos and asbestos products in a 1996 decree. The economic sanctions that have been placed on Canadian asbestos products by France have arguably damaged the historic economic and political relationship between the two countries. With the prohibition of Canadian asbestos exports obviously negatively impacting domestic producers, I think it was in Canada’s best economic interests to dispute the trade issue with the World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO (through its dispute settling process panel and appellate board) found France justified in its prohibition of asbestos products which would have a severe impact on Canadian asbestos exports both with France and gradually worldwide. Despite Canada’s asbestos economy being severely weakened, I feel that the right decision was made insofar that human health and life was protected, even over any trade agreement that was made between the two countries. Enclosed I have written a descriptive and analytic report with my findings on the whole asbestos dispute between Canada and France, and its eventual repercussions for all parties involved. The predominant factor surrounding France’s 1996 prohibition on the

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