OZONE MEETING CONSIDERS ILLEGAL TRADE, CLIMATE CHANGE LINKAGES

Effective monitoring of trade in ozone-depleting substances (ODS) featured among the many issues on the agenda at the latest meeting on the protection of the Earth's ozone layer. Illegal trade in chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) is a problem threatening the integrity of the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

Convening in New Delhi, India, from 30 October to 3 November, the eighteenth Meeting of the Parties (MOP-18) to the Montreal Protocol also considered issues such as essential use and other exceptions to the ban on certain ozone-depleting substances, linkages with climate change, as well as future issues for the global ozone regime, with the twentieth anniversary of the Montreal Protocol coming up next year.

Study proposes tightened controls on ODS trade

At the Delhi meeting, participants considered a feasibility study on developing a system for monitoring the transboundary movement of ozone depleting substances in order to stem illegal trade. Illegal trade has been growing since the early 1990s, and is estimated to be worth up to 20 percent of the volume of legal trade.

Based on lessons from other international schemes to combat illegal trade, the study highlighted possible import and export licensing systems (national or international), information exchange systems, labelling and marking regulations as well as customs codes as ways to monitor international trade in ODS.

In terms of options for the ozone regime, the study proposed: immediate actions, including full implementation of reporting requirements and new systems for cross-checking import and export data; mid-term options, including customs investigations of illegal trade hotspots and supply chains, and sharing of industry trade data with the secretariat or other responsible bodies (while protecting commercially sensitive information); and long-term options, including the creation of a new centralised trade data collection and analysis system, and the adoption of a formal prior informed consent (PIC) system.

The participants showcased their own experiences with monitoring, and adopted a decision that calls for parties to share information on their use of international trade databases and to fully implement the rules of the Protocol on controlling trade in ODS.

Links to the climate regime

MOP-18 took place against the backdrop of new information indicating that the recovery of the depleted atmospheric ozone layer will probably take longer than previously expected. According to the "Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2006," released earlier this year, (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 8 September 2006, http://www.ictsd.org/biores/06-09-08/inbrief.htm#4), the ozone layer over Antarctica will not be fully restored until between 2060 and 2075 - as much as 10 to 25 years later than earlier research had suggested. In part, this is due to increased production of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC)-22, a CFC substitute used for air conditioning and refrigeration systems that still causes some ozone depletion.

While developed country parties have phased out CFCs and other key ozone-depleting substances and developing country parties will do so by 2010, HCFCs are allowed for use until 2030 and 2040 in developed and developing countries respectively.

In addition to HCFC-22, refrigerant plants currently produce HFC-23, a strong greenhouse gas. This production becomes more climate-friendly if the HFC-23 is destroyed rather than let into the atmosphere. Developed countries financially support this destruction process through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). However, this has the effect of indirectly supporting the ongoing production of HCFCs as well, with major projects ongoing in China. These perverse incentives for the continued production of HCFCs in developing countries were raised as a concern for the ozone layer (as well as the climate; HCFCs are powerful greenhouse gases as well).

In the final decision on this topic at MOP-18, parties highlighted the specific problem of HCFCs, and called for more information on the influence of the CDM on HCFC-22 production, and on the availability of alternatives.

Multi-year methyl bromide exemptions?

Among issues left for future meetings was whether to approve multi-year exemptions to the ban on methyl bromide in developed countries, as proposed by the US (developing countries have yet to phase out this substance). Exemptions have previously been granted on an annual basis, as was the case at COP-18.

Methyl bromide exemptions have generated significant acrimony at ozone meetings, even leading governments to call two Extraordinary MOPs after failing to reach agreement on the issue at regular MOP meetings (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 3 December 2004, http://www.ictsd.org/biores/04-12-03/inbrief.htm#2). Methyl bromide is a fumigant that kills soil and food pests, and developed countries have cited "critical use" needs in order to continue using set quantities of the product.

Future work

Already prior to MOP-18, Canada had proposed work on a review process on the future of the Montreal Protocol and its institutions. Participants agreed at the meeting to hold a dialogue on "key future challenges to be faced by the Montreal Protocol," which would cover the following ground: "key achievements of the Protocol; scientific assessment, analysis and monitoring of the ozone layer; phasing out HCFCs; management, control and/or phase-out of ODS other than HCFCs; compliance, enforcement and illegal trade beyond 2010; cooperation and coordination with other MEAs and processes; and future of the Multilateral Fund beyond 2010."

MOP-19, which will coincide with the twentieth anniversary of the Protocol, will take place in Montreal, Canada, next year.

For a full report of MOP-18, see IISD Linkages at http://www.iisd.ca/ozone/mop18/

ICTSD reporting; "Earth Negotiations Bulletin Vol. 19 No. 54," 6 November 2006; "Chemicals Trapped Between Treaties Undermine Progress on Climate," EIA RELEASE, 11 November 2006; "Kyoto Deal on HFC Funding Delayed to 2007 - UN," REUTERS, 15 November 2006.