Asbestos (Prohibitions) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000

Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Asbestos (Prohibitions) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 and shall come into operation on 2nd May 2000.

Amendment of the Asbestos (Prohibitions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1993

2.—(1) The Asbestos (Prohibitions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1993(1) shall be amended in accordance with the following paragraphs.

(2) At the end of regulation 2(1) there shall be added the following definitions—

““supply” means supply by way of sale, lease, hire, hire-purchase, loan, gift or exchange for a consideration other than money, whether (in all cases) as principal or as agent for another;

“territorial waters” means United Kingdom territorial waters adjacent to Northern Ireland and “within territorial waters” includes on, over and under them.”.

(3) In regulation 3, after the word “supply”, there shall be inserted the words, “other than solely for the purpose of disposal,”.

(4) In regulation 4(2), for the words “containing amphibole asbestos”, there shall be substituted the words “to which amphibole asbestos has intentionally been added”.

(5) For regulation 6, there shall be substituted the following regulation—

“Prohibition of the supply or use of chrysotile and products containing it

6.— (1) Subject to the provisions of Schedule 1, a person shall not supply or use—

(a) chrysotile; or

(b) any product to which chrysotile has intentionally been added,

unless it was in use before 2nd May 2000.

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a person shall not use—

(a) asbestos cement;

(b) any board, panel or tile, all or part of which has been painted with paint containing chrysotile; or

(c) any board, panel or tile, all or part of which has been covered in a textured finishing plaster used for decorative purposes and containing chrysotile,

unless it is installed in or forms part of any premises or plant and, before 2nd May 2000, it was installed in or formed part of those same premises or that same plant.

(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a person shall not supply or use any product to which chrysotile has been intentionally added, the supply or use of which was prohibited by these Regulations as in operation immediately before 2nd May 2000.

(4) Paragraphs (1) to (3) shall not apply to any activity in connection with the disposal of crude, fibre, flake, powder or waste chrysotile or of any product to which chrysotile has intentionally been added.

(5) In this regulation, “asbestos cement” means a material which is predominantly a mixture of cement and chrysotile and which when in a dry state has a density greater than 1 tonne per cubic metre.”.

(6) At the end of regulation 7, there shall be added the following paragraphs—

“(3) The Secretary of State for Defence may, in the interests of national security, by a certificate in writing exempt—

(a) Her Majesty’s Forces or visiting forces from all or any of the requirements or prohibitions imposed by these Regulations;

(b) any other person connected with the production of or trade in arms, munitions or war materials from all or any requirements or prohibitions imposed by regulation 6(1), (2) and (3);

and any such exemption may be granted subject to conditions and to a limit of time.

(4) An exemption granted in accordance with paragraph (3) may be varied or revoked at any time by a certificate in writing.

(5) In this regulation, any reference to “visiting forces” is a reference to visiting forces within the meaning of any provision of Part I of the Visiting Forces Act 1952(2).”.

(7) After regulation 7 there shall be inserted the following regulation—

“Application within territorial waters

7A.   Within territorial waters these Regulations shall apply only to or in relation to the premises and activities to which any of paragraphs 2 to 6 of Schedule 2 applies.”.

(8) For the Schedule, there shall be substituted Schedule 1 as set out in Schedule 1 to these Regulations.

(9) After Schedule 1 there shall be added Schedule 2 as set out in Schedule 2 to these Regulations.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment on 20th March 2000.

L.S.

Adrianne L. Brown

A senior officer of the

Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment