Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SM/NR)

Mangalore, Oct 26: A workshop on monitoring and control of Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS), organized by the National academy of customs, excise and narcotics, Bangalore was held here on Thursday October 25.

The workshop was inaugurated by HV Chauhan, additional director-general, NACEN.

Inaugurating the seminar, Chauhan stated that control of trade in ODS was a principal feature in the phase-out schedule visualized in the Montreal Protocol. He opined that   custom officers had a major part to play in controlling cross-border trade of ODS. The aim of the workshop he said was to sensitize enforcement officers about ODS and regulatory frame work to prevent its illegal international trade.

Speaking on the occasion, G Manivachagam, additional director-general (audit), customs, Central Excise and Service Tax (CEST) said that while developed countries have already eased out  the ODS, India along with other developed countries should also do so by the end of this decade, he declared.

India was on track to meet this requirement and would completely phase out production and consumption of ODS by then, he hoped positively.

He further said that investigations were going on all over the world in order to minimize the impact of high potential ODS which are already in use in old equipment mainly refrigerators and air-conditioners.

The five authorized companies in our country that manufacture high potential ODS under the aegis of Refrigerator Gas Manufacturers’ Association were committed to meeting the deadline which was 2010, he averred.

The ozone cell in the ministry of environment and forest had taken steps to fight against the illegal trade in ODS. Besides, the intelligence wing of the association was with the help of enforcement agencies doing all it can to curb its illegal trade within the country.

Enforcement agencies have seized 1.15-lac kg of ODS across India in a five-year period from 1999, he informed.