At the end of April, a regional meeting of UNEP met in Istanbul to promote inter-regional cooperation between South-Asian, Central Asian, Caucasus and Balkan countries on the control of ozone-depleting substances. Below is an extract from a media brief from this meeting in Turkey. This brief shows that the delegates are aware of illegal trade and also that they will be increasing their efforts to prevent this activity.
JOINT MEETING OF THE REGIONAL OZONE NETWORKS
FOR EUROPE & CENTRAL ASIA (ECA) AND SOUTH ASIA (SA), ISTANBUL, TURKEY, 26-30 APRIL 2010
Asia meets Europe
For first time, the Regional Ozone Networks for South Asia and for Europe & Central Asia met jointly to promote inter-regional cooperation between South-Asian, Central Asian, Caucasus and Balkan countries. The venue could not have been in any other place in the world, since Istanbul is the only city in the world situated on 2 continents – Asia and Europe.
The meeting allowed Ozone Officers from more than 30 countries to exchange their experience in phasing-out the use of ozone-depleting substances (ODS) such as CFCs and HCFCs widely use in refrigeration, air-conditioning and foam production.
In the margin of the meeting, Country Dialogs allowed addressing illegal trade issues through the comparison of trade data and verification of transaction documents. Apparently, significant amounts of CFCs and HCFCs have been illegally traded between countries often mis-declared as recycled substances which are not controlled under the Montreal protocol. Russia, China and other countries are now investigating these cases in order to identify the responsible persons.
Wilhelmsen Ships Service is assisting in this process through our R-22 changeover programme to inform the Maritime Industry about the HCFC phase-out schedule and how it applies to the various flag-states. We offer advice and solutions to ship owners and operators on retrofitting their vessels to more environmentally acceptable solutions from our Unicool range of refrigerants.
Further information from:
Sten Rath, Product Marketing Manager Refrigerants & RFN Products, Wilhelmsen Ships Service Telephone : +47 22 13 12 52 (office) +47 482 77 552 (mobile) sten.rath@wilhelmsen.com
Solveig Saether, Market Communication Manager, Wilhelmsen Ships Service, Telephone +47 67 58 45 78 (office), +47 90 63 49 77 (mobile) solveig.d.saether@wilhelmsen.com