Carcinogenic asbestos left off toxic export listParties to a treaty aimed at controlling trade in toxic products have failed to put white asbestos asbestos, mineral asbestos, common name for any of a variety of silicate minerals within the amphibole and serpentine groups that are fibrous in structure and more or less resistant to acid and fire. , a known carcinogen carcinogen: see cancer. carcinogen Agent that can cause cancer. Exposure to one or more carcinogens, including certain chemicals, radiation, and certain viruses, can initiate cancer under conditions not completely understood. , on its watch list, the Rotterdam Convention's secretariat Secretariat, 1970–89, thoroughbred race horse. Trained by Lucien Laurin and ridden by Ron Turcotte, Secretariat won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes to capture the Triple Crown in 1973. Secretariat (foaled 1970) U.S. reported Monday. The more than 120 representatives of states parties to the treaty were unable to reach consensus on the widely used building material also known as chrysotile chrysotile: see serpentine. chrysotile Fibrous variety of the magnesium silicate mineral serpentine; it is the most important asbestos mineral. Individual fibres are white and silky, but the aggregate in veins is usually green or yellowish. asbestos, it said in a statement. The convention's Prior Informed Consent list currently includes 39 hazardous substances, including all other forms of asbestos. Canadian member of parliament Pat Martin, who attended the treaty conference in Rome last week, said that Canada -- a top exporter of white asbestos -- had pressured major clients such as India, Pakistan, the Philippines and Vietnam to join opposition to the listing. "Canada should hang its head in shame," Martin, a former asbestos miner and a deputy in the House of Commons House of Commons: see Parliament. with the opposition socialist New Democratic Party, told the Canadian Press  This article or section is written like an .Please help [ rewrite this article] from a neutral point of view. Mark blatant advertising for , using . news agency. Canadian health and safety regulations protect citizens against exposure to asbestos, "yet we dump 200,000 tonnes a year into Third World and developing countries and object to having warning labels put on it," Martin said. Under the convention, exports of chemicals and pesticides on the Prior Informed Consensus list require the prior informed consent of the importing country. Exporting countries are responsible for ensuring that no exports leave their territory when an importing country has made the decision not to accept the chemical or pesticide pesticide, biological, physical, or chemical agent used to kill plants or animals that are harmful to people; in practice, the term pesticide is often applied only to chemical agents. in question. During the conference, "many governments expressed serious concern about the failure to list chrysotile asbestos," the statement said. The UN World Health Organization reminded participants that chrysotile is a human carcinogen and that asbestos-related diseases claim at least 90,000 lives each year. 
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