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Ozone Unit reminds public to have permit for importation of refrigerant gas |06 June 2023

The Ozone Unit within the Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment is once again reminding the public that a permit is needed to import into the country equipment that requires refrigerant gas.

The Ozone Unit has once again issued a message via SMS as part of the continuous sensitisation campaign.

Two representatives from the Ozone Unit, Marie-Neige Philoe and Inese Chang-Waye, explained that the procedure includes filling out a form when importing various equipment such as fridges, air conditioning units among others, where they specify what type of gas the imported equipment uses and the country of origin.

They explained that there are certain gases which are banned in the country since 2018. Should certain illegal gases enter into the country, the importer will have to pay a fine to the department of environment and Customs.

In regards to importers who do not have the proper permit, Customs have all the rights to seize the equipment.

The Ozone Unit is working in close collaboration with Customs in order to better inform the public to do things properly. “It protects Seychelles and it protects the environment,” said Ms Philoe.

The equipment with the banned gas will also be shipped back to where it came from. There are also levies which are paid as part of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol – an international agreement to gradually reduce the consumption and productions of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).

“With all the methods of communication at our disposal, we are trying to sensitise the public to fill out their form for the license and if they do not fill out the form and they just buy the gas, there is a huge risk that they are bringing in illegal products,” explained Ms Philoe.

These are all attempts as part of ongoing effort to reduce the use of the gas which causes high global warming emissions. The sensitisation will also help importers, as levies are less on equipment that causes less carbon emissions.

In addition, the representatives explained that countries such as Dubai and China are making cheaper products in order to get rid of them. “This is because there will be a certain time where even they will stop using these gases. Seychelles is small and we are not producing these harmful gases so we do not need those to harm the country,” added Ms Philoe.

They are urging people to buy locally and said that despite these equipment being more expensive in Seychelles, they are less likely to contain banned gases. “This is the advantage of buying locally and this is what we are trying to open people’s eyes to.”

Since all citizens can apply for the permit, the Ozone Unit said its campaign is nationwide. The officers said there have been attempts by a few to beat the system and import equipment without a permit. However this was a minority. The vast majority of importers have accepted that a permit is needed and certain gases are banned, especially when the environment is a critical factor in that consideration. “Even though they accept it, they will try and find a way to ship it into the country because Dubai is trying to find a way to send it all out. They can even put a label that is fraudulent and Customs are here to see it and rectify it,” said Mrs Chang-Waye.

Meanwhile, there has been a ratification of the Montreal Protocol since August 18, 2019 called the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which will come into force on January 1, 2025. The ratification is binding and in addition, the country needs to make sure that it has a full operational licensing system.

Mrs Chang-Waye said to be able to do this, Seychelles will need to make amendments to existing legislations and for this they work closely with the Ozone secretariat at the United Nations, which is very useful to their unit as it helps finance several trainings such as for detection of illegal products and new types of gas that are replacing the old ones with high global warming emissions.

It should be noted that the new gases contain natural refrigerants but there are some which are toxic such as ammonia or flammable such as hydrocarbon.

 

Sunny Esparon

 

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