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1 (5) Exhibit 18 * 471 Witness Mauri Hannu Kulo Chairman Are you acquainted with Pentti Kalevi Aho? Kulo No, I am not. + Liljestrom I ask the witness to briefly state his own occupational history and education. Kulo I have a degree from a business institute. 1 Jokelan Kenkatehdas Oy (Jokela Shoe Factory Ltd) where Aho worked, is a shoe manufacturer founded in 1945 by my mother's father. Aho worked at the plant in the 1950's. I started to work there full time in 1970. From 1979 to 1988 I was the managing director. We are mainly interested in the time period when Aho worked at the Jokela Shoe Factory. What were the working conditions? Do you have information about that? Of course I cannot have completely accurate information. In* the 1950's my uncle was the technical director at the factory. I have talked with him some more about the working conditions and about the task that Aho performed. Can you tell us what kind of work Aho did at the Jokela Shoe Factory in the 1950's? It consisted of an operation kind of like edge trimming. Making the sole of a shoe was done so that at first the sole was cut from rubber into a so called blank which was the right size for that shoe. After that it was Aho's job with a kind of a trimming machine to trim off the excess from the N cn 0 ~ 1 Roughly equivalent to an associate's degree in business. a Transl. o 0 10 14*1

2 (5) edge after the sole was attached to the shoe. It was done on a, it is like an emery stone but the stone is very small in size, and the stone rotates fast and it had a steering table and it removes the excess against the stone. The operation naturally produces dust as the excess is removed. Liljestrom What type of dust and other things are produced? Do glues and other substances burn during that operation? Kulo There is a so called vacuum cleaner which draws dust away from this station, but of course as the stone is turning very fast and creates a draft, it does not necessarily remove all of it. The stone rotates pretty fast and some of the material burns at the same time. A little bit of smoke comes up in the,air. I am talking about the rubber burning slightly. The sole [is] glued, the trade name is quick glue, it of course heats up the glued seam somewhat. And the dust collector that is attached was then and still is such that it blows the exhaust air back into the room and not outside through the ventilation system. In a way similar to a home vacuum cleaner. The particles remain inside the machine. If any fumes are produced, they reenter the room air. Liljestrom What type of quick glues were used those days? According to my memory, the glues and solvents of that period often used toluene for instance. Is that true? Kulo occupational safety increased a great deal in the 1970's and my knowledge is more from that [period]. At that time more and more attention was drawn to vapors from solvents. At least in the 1970's the mixes began to change quite a bit. Solvents, such as glue thinners, were altered. Can you then draw the conclusion that they were more hazardous to the health before then. The fact is that the sole of a shoe is attached the same way even today. Both the

3 (5) shoe and the sole are brushed with the glue. Both are allowed to dry completely.-After that heat is used to reactivate the glue and [the parts] are pressed together. I may be presuming somewhat but at least in the 1950's and to some degree in the 1960's the sole gluing [attaching the sole?] [was such that] the vapors from the solvents evaporated pretty freely into the air. Whereas the gluing station, where the gluing of the shoes took place, has always been ventilated. They sometimes also lifted the soles two meters up to dry. Liljestrom That did not quite answer my question as to what substances? Did they contain toluene? Kulo Well, I was trying to answer. Occupational safety increased in the 1970's, and toluene was one of the substances whose elimination from these thinners was clearly a goal. I don't know if you can then equate that with the conclusion that there was toluene earlier; its elimination was a goal. Liljestrom I have received access to some correspondence, inspection records and other documents from the occupational safety inspections conducted at Jokela Shoe Factory. There seem to be continuous complaints about ventilation, glues, thinners and solvents. Is this typical of the industry or was Jokela Shoe Factory an exception? Kulo It is very typical of the industry because there is continuous involvement with glues and finishing agents that contain solvents. Liljestrom As shoes, heels and other things are being sanded and you said that all kinds of matter comes off, then is it safe to say that the work was so dirty that the dirt also stuck to the worker? Kulo That is unfortunately the case. Liljestrom I have seen somewhere that you had stated that

4 (5) these edge trimmers were about like chimney sweeps at the end of the day? Kulo That is just so. It was because the normal revolution speed of a edge trimming machine blade is 15,000 revolutions per minute. It causes such a whirlwind that even with a powerful suction, it gets things going in such a way that you cannot avoid having that powder fly on yourself. Liljestrom Do you use a Black and Decker? I myself like to use a Black and Decker. Kulo A power drill? ~ Liljestrom Or a sanding machine. If you compare to one of these 5,000 revolution machines of today, what is the edge trimming machine like? Kulo It is a lot faster than that. Liljestrom How about the effect? I am usually dusty when I sand. Kulo That is a little difficult to compare because the operation is different but let us say that a normal edge trimmer, when it was used, the first job was always a little like that. Sivenius Did I understand correctly that this same method in this operation was in use from the 1950's until 1988? Kulo This edge trimming was in use until the beginning of the 1970's. Sivenius After that it changed? Kulo After that it changed in such a way that the shoe manufacturer gets the soles finished, completely measured to size.

5 (5) The shoe manufacturer subcontracts them from a sole manufacturer. The sole manufacturer still does the edge trimming, but not the shoe manufacturer who buys them as finished components. Sivenius Attorney Liljestrom referred to some letters from occupational safety officials. Do you know whether this method, this operation was actually prohibited for health reasons? Kulo The shoe factory has several such operations. They were not prohibited but the officials requested that improvements be adopted. Reducing the dust or odor problems. _ Sivenius I ask that you briefly explain what improvements were made in this operation? Kulo This operation that we are now discussing, it came to an end at the beginning of the 1970's. In a way the problems ended then. Sivenius You can not remember what possible improvements were made during the time when Aho worked there? Kulo No, I don't. Sivenius Do you know whether former employees of Jokela Shoe Factory, or perhaps current employees, have had an exceptionally high incidence of cancer of the respiratory organs? Kulo I have.no knowledge of that. Sivenius This subject was never discussed with the occupational safety officials for instance? Kulo No, it was not.