Bangkok, 23 November 2021 - The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) OzonAction Compliance Assistance Programme (CAP), in the Asia-Pacific Office, in collaboration with UNEP’s National Environmental Law Unit organized a thematic workshop on Strengthening Enforcement of National Montreal Protocol Legislations for National Ozone Unit (NOU) staff and Enforcement Officers of South Asia (SA), Southeast Asia (SEA), and the Pacific Island Countries (PIC). A total of 70 participants (34 female and 36 male) including NOU staff and Customs Officers from 28 regional countries, including a representative from Sweden and UNEP’s Law Division.
Parties have adopted many national legislations to implement the Montreal Protocol, such as the import/export licensing system for controlled substances and banning the use of phased-out substances, etc. However, the enforcement of legislation differs from country to country. While some countries have been taking legal actions against offenders, others have not enforced national legislations strictly, and as a result, there have been incidents of continued breaches of national legislations. For example, the pre-workshop survey revealed that import of controlled substances without a required license and shipment misdeclaration are frequently occurring in countries, but usually only result in administrative fines rather than civil and criminal penalties.
The workshop, led by Mr. Benjamin Ojoleck, Associate Legal Officer from UNEP’s Law Division, discussed appropriate enforcement measures, legal tools to ensure continued compliance with the law and to rectify any instances of non-compliance. It was emphasized that although there is a range of enforcement measures that can enable authorities to account for the severity of the violation and the willfulness of the violator, countries need to review national mechanisms to identify optimum measures based on their context to ensure that the penalty is both effective and equitable.
Ms. Kunzang, National Ozone Officer of Bhutan shared their recent experience of strengthening their national Montreal Protocol regulations following the country’s ratification of the Kigali Amendment. Ms. Kunzang elaborated that through the amendment of the regulation, each provision has been strengthened to control the HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons) and emphasized that the enforcement measures often need to go beyond civil penalties or fines. She said that especially in low-volume-consuming countries like Bhutan, awareness creation is very important and therefore, the country is focusing on awareness creation for every stakeholder involved, such as the judiciary, prosecutors, customs, and importers. Awareness of more stakeholders will contribute to preventing more violations.
Furthermore, China and Fiji shared their experiences in handling violations of their national Montreal Protocol legislation. Mr. Yang Qian from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) shared experiences that China has enacted over 100 supporting management rules and regulations on the management of ozone depleting substances (ODS), which provides a comparatively sound legal system. Through a nationwide special ODS law enforcement operation, MEE dispatched 11 working groups to carry out special inspections in major provinces and municipalities with large consumption of ODS. During this operation, one company was found using CFC-11 illegally. Following the lengthy judicial proceedings, the company and its legal representative were both fined monetarily, and the legal representative was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment for environmental pollution caused by its illegal use of CFC-11.
Ms. Alisi Kamaiwaqa from Fiji’s NOU shared their national Montreal Protocol implementation legal framework and institutional responsibilities. They shared two examples of violations: a servicing company commissioned an R-410A split-type air-conditioning unit with R-22 and a servicing technician falsified its required certificate. Following separate investigations, the cases were not brought to the court due to prolonged administrative procedures. Based on a decision of the Department of Environment, the company's permit to store controlled substances was suspended temporarily and the technician’s license to handle controlled substances was revoked.
The workshop also provided participants with an idea of how to strengthen the enforcement of national Montreal Protocol regulations at country level. UNEP will follow-up on this topic to assist countries in the setup and enforcement of national Montreal Protocol regulations.
The workshop was organized as per the CAP 2021 workplan that was developed to meet the needs of NOUs and was delivered virtually due to COVID-19 constraints.
For more information:
Mr. Shaofeng Hu
Senior Montreal Protocol Regional Coordinator
UNEP, CAP, Asia and Pacific Office
Email: hus[at]un.org
