This report summarizes data on production and consumption of ozone-depleting substances as of 31 October 2005, reported by the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer under Article 7 of the Protocol.

The Handbook describes the nomination process for essential use exemptions as it has evolved through Articles of the Protocol and Decisions of the Parties; the procedures followed under the Protocol; and the experience of the Panel and its Technical Options Committees in managing the process to date. The Handbook contains three sections: review of the essential use process; instructions for the completion of essential use nominations; and appendices. The appendices contain provisions of the Montreal Protocol, decisions of the Parties to the Protocol and an essential use nomination form.

The conclusion in 1985 of the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, followed in 1987 by the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, were the starting points of global cooperation for the protection of the Earth’s stratospheric ozone layer. The six meetings held by the Parties to the Vienna Convention, and the fourteen meetings held by the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, since then have led to many decisions designed to implement the objectives of the Convention and Protocol, all of which are reflected in this Handbook for the International Treaties for the Protection of the Ozone Layer.

The complete 2001 edition of the handbook for the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer.

The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer establishes the phase-out schedules for production and consumption of the most harmful ozone depleting substances (ODS). Different phase-out schedules apply to the industrialised and developing countries (Section 5.1). The ODS phase-out is in different stages of implementation across the globe. Eventually, production and consumption of ODS need to be phased out globally. Only then will the ozone layer be able to recover.

The present assessment deals with the results of previously undertaken investigations. These repeatedly give reasons for concern for potential effects, but relatively little progress has been made in quantifying these effects. The more the investigators look into the problems, the more the complexity becomes apparent. Nevertheless, the knowledge is accumulating

Cartoons that tell the ozone story in a simple form that can be understood by people of all ages.