The Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment has decided to expand the sphere of activity of the VIP. The VIP will be tasked with focusing on safe working methods for processing and recycling in addition to safe working methods for asbestos removal.
This expansion follows a request by the Ministry to carry out an analysis of the possibilities for expanding the VIP’s scope. This analysis was offered to the Ministry on 12 July 2024. The VIP had arrived at two opportunities for expanding its scope:
- assessment of safe working methods for processing applications containing asbestos;
- assessment of safe working methods for processing waste containing asbestos (recycling).
Making better use of current tasks
In addition, the VIP pointed to all the tasks that already fall under its scope but are rarely used. These include the assessment of safe working methods as grounds for exceptions to the asbestos inventory obligation and the reassessment of previously approved working methods, in the event of new insights from practice, for example.
Room for expansion
The Ministry has offered the VIP analysis in a letter to the House of Representatives. State Secretary Nobel of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment has chosen to expand the sphere of activity of the VIP, as long as it concerns processing that is permitted according to the regulatory framework (Products Containing Asbestos Decree, Section 5).
This expansion will contribute to a safer and more efficient approach to asbestos in the Netherlands.