Mindful of the importance of preventing illegal trade to ensuring the smooth and effective phase-out of controlled ozone-depleting substances,

Understanding the need to control both import and export of all controlled ozone-depleting substances by all Parties, in particular through establishment of licensing systems, as required under Article 4B of the Montreal Protocol,

Recalling the provisions related to monitoring and control of trade in controlled ozone‑depleting substances contained in decisions VII/9, VIII/20, IX/8 and XIV/7,

Recognizing that there are already trade tracking systems established in other environmental conventions as well as international trade statistics databases,

Mindful of the ongoing development of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management, which includes as an objective the prevention of illegal international trade, and of decision 23/9 of the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme, on chemicals management, requesting the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme to promote cooperation between the Montreal Protocol and certain other conventions in addressing international illegal trafficking of hazardous chemicals and hazardous wastes,

Acknowledging with appreciation the draft terms of reference for a study on the feasibility of developing an international system of tracking the movement of controlled ozone-depleting substances between Parties produced by the Ozone Secretariat, as required by decision XVI/33,

Noting with appreciation the outcome of the workshop of experts from the Parties to the Montreal Protocol organized by the Ozone Secretariat on 3 April 2005 in Montreal on the development of specific areas and a conceptual framework of cooperation in preventing and combating illegal trade in controlled ozone-depleting substances,

Noting with appreciation the Report of the Executive Committee of the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol on the evaluation of customs officers training and licensing system projects to the twenty-fifth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group,[5]

1. To approve the terms of reference for a study on the feasibility of developing an international system of monitoring the transboundary movement of controlled ozone-depleting substances between Parties, as presented in the appendix to the present decision, and to request the Ozone Secretariat to undertake such a study, to initiate the necessary tenders and to present the results to the Eighteenth Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol in 2006;
2. To invite the Ozone Secretariat to consult with other conventions or organizations who might benefit from the outcome of that study to contribute towards its work;
3. To urge all Parties, including regional economic integration organizations, to implement fully their obligations under Article 4B of the Montreal Protocol, in particular, the licensing systems for the control of imports, exports, re-exports (re-exports mean exports of previously imported substances) and, if technically and administratively feasible, transit of all controlled ozone-depleting substances, including mixtures containing them, regardless of whether the Party concerned is or is not recognized as the producer and/or importer, exporter or re-exporter of the particular substance or group of substances;
4. To request the Ozone Secretariat to revise the reporting format resulting from decision VII/9 to cover exports (including re-exports) of all controlled ozone-depleting substances, including mixtures containing them, and to urge the Parties to implement the revised reporting format expeditiously. The Ozone Secretariat is also requested to report back aggregated information related to the controlled substance in question received from the exporting/re-exporting Party to the importing Party concerned;
5. To invite Parties to submit information to the Ozone Secretariat by 30 June 2006 on any existing systems for exchanging information on import and export licenses between importing and exporting Parties;
6. To consider additional control measures with regard to the use of controlled ozone‑depleting substances in particular sectors or in particular applications, as this approach may effectively diminish illegal trade activities;
7. To encourage further work on the Green Customs initiative of the United Nations Environment Programme in combating illegal trade in controlled ozone‑depleting substances as well as further networking and twinning activities in the framework of regional networks aimed at the exchange of information and experience on both licit and illicit trade in controlled ozone‑depleting substances between the Parties, including enforcement agencies;
8. To request the Executive Committee to consider at its forty-eighth meeting the recommendations contained in the report of the Executive Committee of the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol on the Evaluation of Customs Officers Training and Licensing System Projects to the twenty-fifth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group^[5], in particular where they relate to customs training and other elements of capacity building that are needed in combating illegal trade in controlled ozone-depleting substances;
9. To approve a maximum amount of $200,000 from the Trust Fund of the Vienna Convention as a one-time measure to facilitate the feasibility study on developing a system for monitoring the transboundary movement of controlled ozone-depleting substances between the Parties;

Annex

Terms of reference for a feasibility study on developing a system for monitoring the transboundary movement of controlled ozone-depleting substances between the Parties

1. Describe the logistical and regulatory steps which could be applied to the movement of controlled ozone-depleting substances that are produced and exported for final use in another Party.
2. Describe important components that could usefully be included in an effective system for monitoring the transboundary movement of controlled ozone-depleting substances between the country of export or re-export and the country of import.
3. Describe potential actions that could be used by Parties to assist in monitoring the transboundary movement of controlled ozone-depleting substances as they move between Parties.
4. Assess whether any national or international systems already monitor transboundary movement of controlled ozone-depleting substances, including transit trade, and examine information on existing systems for exchanging information on import and export licenses between exporting and importing Parties referred to in the operative paragraph 5, and assess advantages and disadvantages of the systems in question.
5. Examine how tracking mechanisms operate in other international agreements (such as the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, the Basel Convention on the Control of Trans-boundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna) and how they may or may not be useful models for the development of a system for monitoring the transboundary movement of controlled ozone-depleting substances in a manner that would assist in the efforts to reduce illegal trade. Examine the costs and practical difficulties associated with developing and operating tracking systems under the above mentioned international agreements in order to provide an estimate of the practical difficulties and costs with regard to implementation of a tracking system for controlled ozone-depleting substances. Examine the possibilities for securing synergies with related international agreements in tracking illegal trade. Compare the results of the work described in this paragraph with a similar analysis on the possibilities of using existing international trade statistics databases to monitor transboundary movement of controlled ozone-depleting substances between Parties.
6. Describe sources of information, information requirements (such as: carrier, port of import/export/re-export/transit or transshipment, customs information on ozone-depleting substances being shipped including, inter alia, country of origin and declared producer name, country of final destination and declared purchaser/receiver name) and information flows that would be needed to enable an ozone-depleting substances tracking system to be successful in reducing illegal trade. Describe also the functional governmental or non-governmental units that would need to be involved in providing and monitoring such information, considering both centralized and decentralized systems. Examine relevant international law including international trade rules that may assist in or govern the release of such information including the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreements.
7. Communicate with five to seven producing country Governments and producers and international distributors in those countries as well as with five to seven re-exporting country Governments and international distributors in those countries (representing Parties operating under Article 5 and Parties not operating under Article 5) to get their views on the feasibility and cost of obtaining needed information for implementing a transboundary movements monitoring system, and their views on whether such a system would impact on legitimate trade. Also communicate with the Governments and primary distributors in the two or three countries (representing Parties operating under Article 5 and Parties not operating under Article 5) responsible for the majority of the transit and transshipment of controlled ozone-depleting substances to discuss the same matters.
8. Taking into account the above, describe, in an overview fashion, two or three likely workable options for transboundary movements monitoring systems that would be useful in reducing illegal trade in controlled ozone-depleting substances. Those options should describe the steps and actions that could have to be taken at the producer, distributor, governmental and Secretariat level to better monitor transboundary movements of controlled ozone-depleting substances. Finally, estimates of the annual user (Government, exporter/importer, Secretariat) costs and system-wide costs for implementation should be provided for each option.

[5] UNEP/OzL.Pro/WG.1/25/6.