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Decision XIV/7: Monitoring of trade in ozone-depleting substances and preventing illegal trade in ozone-depleting substances

The Fourteenth Meeting of the Parties decided in Dec. XIV/7:

Mindful of Decision XIII/12 requesting the Ozone Secretariat to undertake a study dealing with issues related to monitoring of trade in ODS and preventing illegal trade in ODS listed in Decision XII/10 and present a report with practical suggestions to the Open-ended Working Group at its twenty-second meeting, in 2002, for consideration of the Parties in 2002,

Acknowledging with appreciation the work of the Ozone Secretariat and all organizations and individuals which assisted in the preparation of the report,

Acknowledging with appreciation the proposal from the Ozone Secretariat, based on the work done by the ODS Customs Codes Discussion Group convened under Decision X/18, on national subdivisions to customs codes for classification of mixtures containing ODS, which is presently being processed by the World Customs Organization,

Recalling previous decisions of the Parties dealing with monitoring of trade in ODS, customs codes, ODS import and export licensing systems and prevention of illegal trade in ODS, namely Decisions II/12, VI/19, VIII/20, IX/8, IX/22, X/18 and XI/26,

Understanding the importance of actions aimed at improvement of monitoring of trade in ODS and preventing illegal trade in ODS for timely and smooth phase-out of ODS according to the agreed schedules,

  1. To encourage each Party to consider means and continued efforts to monitor international transit trade;
  2. To encourage all Parties to introduce economic incentives that do not impair international trade but which are appropriate and consistent with international trade law, to promote the use of ODS substitutes and products (including equipment) containing them or designed for them, and technologies utilizing them; and to consider demand control measures in addressing illegal trade;
  3. To urge each Party that has not already done so to introduce in its national customs classification system the separate sub-divisions for the most commonly traded HCFCs and other ODS contained in the World Customs Organization recommendation of 25 June 1999 and request that Parties provide a copy to the Secretariat; and to urge all Parties to take due account of any new recommendations by the World Customs Organization once they are agreed;
  4. To provide the following further clarification of the difference between a controlled substance, or a mixture containing a controlled substance, and a product containing a controlled substance contained in Article 1 of the Montreal Protocol and further explained in Decision I/12A:
    1. No matter which customs code is allocated to a controlled substance or mixture containing a controlled substance, such substance or mixture, when in a container used for transportation or storage as defined in Decision 1/12A, shall be considered to be a “controlled substance” and thus shall be subject to the phase-out schedules agreed upon by the Parties;
    2. The clarification contained in subparagraph (a) above concerns, in particular, controlled substances or mixtures containing controlled substances classified under customs codes related to their function and sometimes wrongly considered to be “products”, thus avoiding any controls resulting from the Montreal Protocol phase-out schedules;
  5. To encourage all Parties to exchange information and intensify joint efforts to improve means of identification of ODS and prevention of illegal ODS traffic. In particular those Parties concerned should make even greater use of the UNEP regional networks and other networks in order to increase cooperation on illegal trade issues and enforcement activities;
  6. To request the Division of Technology, Industry and Economics of the United Nations Environment Programme through the Executive Committee to report to the Sixteenth Meeting of the Parties on the activities of the regional networks with regard to means of combating illegal trade; to request the Executive Committee to consider making an evaluation of customs officers training and licensing systems projects a priority and, if possible, report to the Sixteenth Meeting of the Parties;
  7. To invite Parties, in order to facilitate exchange of information, to report to the Ozone Secretariat fully proved cases of illegal trade in ozone-depleting substances. The illegally traded quantities should not be counted against a Party’s consumption provided the Party does not place the said quantities on its own market. The Secretariat is requested to collect any information on illegal trade received from the Parties and to disseminate it to all Parties. The Secretariat is also requested to initiate exchanges with countries to explore options for reducing illegal trade;
  8. To request the Executive Committee of the Multilateral Fund to continue to provide financial and technical assistance to Article 5 Parties to introduce, develop and apply inspection technologies and equipment in customs to combat illegal ODS traffic and to monitor ODS trade, and to report to the Sixteenth Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on activities to date.