First Published in 1986. It was in 1981 that the joint sub-committee ‘minerals and metals’, set up in the framework of EEC-Canadian cooperation, decided to launch a publication which would provide an overall view of the progress achieved at international level in the field of research into asbestos. In the Directory, as it had emerged in previous editions the coverage was confined chiefly to health aspects. An attempt has therefore been made to extend the scope of this publication to cover technology and asbestos substitutes. It is the result of a survey comprising over 2000 research centres or individual researchers, who will afterwards be regularly consulted, as will the specialists who have been identified in the meantime. Future updates will probably be on an annual basis.