The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has released a briefing document on global refrigerant smuggling trends.
The EIA released the document, titled “New Trends in ODS smuggling” ahead of the Montreal Protocol Assembly meeting in Paris, which is now underway. The document presents cases of ODS smuggling related to refrigerants around the world and highlights the threats and consequences to the environment of ODS smuggling.
According to the document, global demand for refrigerants has risen significantly with peak HCFC consumption approximately three times greater than CFC production at its peak. This means it is likely that illegal trade of HCFCs will be larger than the illegal trade of CFCs.
According to the document, the use of HCFC-22 in developing countries rose by almost 45,000 tonnes between 2011 to 2012.
The document provides of analysis of HCFC trade data based on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS codes). The analysis provided a comparison of the HCFC trade in China, Singapore and Costa Rica and found discrepancies in the data. The document stated that these discrepancies could happen for a number of reasons such as a lack of reporting, inadvertent misdeclaration of the destination country or not correctly using the HS codes for declaring HCFC-22 imports.
The cases that the document provided of ODS smuggling were based in Europe and Asia–Spain, Russia, India, China and the Philipines.
In Spain, Spanish state prosecution unit SERPONA conducted a raid on a Spanish company and found that there were in possession of over 30 1 tonne cyclinders of HCFC-22.
In Russia, Russian enforcement agencies launched an anti-ODS import smuggling operation and as a result seized more than 1,500 cyclinders of CFC-11, CFC-12, HCFC-22 and HCFC-141b.
In India, Indian authorities seized 182 tonnes of HCFC-22 as well as 350 disposable cyclinders which were imported from China and had been declared as being imported for re-export, only for the importing company to illegally divert the refrigerant onto the Indian market. As a result fines of over US$22,000 were issued.
In China, a TV investigation revealed widespread use of CFC-12 in aerosol cans and sold on the Chinese car trade market and in the Philippines a DuPoint investigation revealed that local company T.A. Fresco were selling counterfeit HFC-134a refrigerant.
The EIA expressed concerns of large ISO tanks contributing to huge ODS (ozone depleting substances) illegal trade, as well as the lack of awareness on how to test the content of large gas tanks.
The EIA concluded the document with recommendations for the Parties to the Montreal Protocol to request a study analysis custom trade data discrepancies across ODS and ODS-alternatives, support draft decisions aimed at creating individual HS codes for HFCs, support and strength draft decisions aimed at reducing CTC and ODS feedstock emissions via verification by customs and to request additional customs training to ensure large tanks are routinely checked to prevent illegal trade.
New Trends in ODS smuggling can be read in full here.
The Montreal Protocol assembly is currently underway and will continue until Friday November 21. EIA campaigners are in attendance.