After five revisions, the Hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) Consumption Management Regulations will undergo another amendment to comply with the control schedule set by the Montreal Protocol. The Protocol requires lowering the consumption to 0.5% of the baseline level by 1 January 2020. The upcoming revision will amend the regulation accordingly.

To comply with the Montreal Protocol, the EPA promulgated the HCFC Consumption Management Regulations on 15 January 2003 to control the production, import, export, and use of HCFCs listed under the Montreal Protocol.

The EPA noted that this revision is to comply with the Montreal Protocol’s HCFC control schedule that requires lowering the consumption to 0.5% of the baseline level by 1 January 2020. It also complies with the Protocol’s newly added decision that HCFCs shall only be used for the maintenance for refrigeration, air conditioners, or fire extinguishing equipment and systems in existence as of 2020, as well as for cleaning usages in rocket engine manufacturing or in the production of certain treatments for burns.

The revision will affect Taiwan’s annual usage of about 45 Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP) tons of HCFCs for the maintenance of refrigeration and air conditioning equipment. Handheld fire extinguishers are already manufactured with alternative chemicals, and there is no need for HCFCs in Taiwan for cleaning usages in rocket engine manufacturing or in producing treatments for burns. Adding the new exempted uses with this revision updates Taiwan’s regulations to international standards.

The main points of the revision are as follows:

1. Some uses are excluded in the calculation of national consumption of HCFCs.

2. HCFC uses in the manufacturing of rocket engines and aerosol propellants used in treatments for burns are exempted. For refrigeration and air conditioning system maintenance, the revision only restricts the allocation schedule accordingly.

3. Following the policy to lower national annual consumption, allocation calculation standards are set respectively for manufacturers and suppliers already qualified for allocation and those that newly apply for the allocation.

4. Based on the Montreal Protocol’s exemptions on allowed uses, regulations on exempted uses and complementary measures are newly added.

5. To deal with situations in which manufacturers permitted to use HCFCs cannot sell their unused allocations, revisions were made to allow manufacturers to sell HCFCs in stock back to their suppliers after obtaining the central competent authority’s permission.

6. A revision was added to stipulate that when importers violate Article 7 of the HCFC Consumption Management Regulations by bringing in products and equipment that contain HCFCs without being permitted to do so, but do not commit concealment or false reporting violations, the importers must return and ship out the items within the period required by the Customs Act.

Excerpt from Environmental Policy Monthly, 23 (2)