China to join int'l efforts in checking ODS smuggling

China will cooperate more closely with Asian and Pacific countries to crack down on the illegal trade of ozone depleting substances (ODS), said a senior official with the country's environmental watchdog Monday.

"The move is in line with China's pledge to curb the smuggling of ODS," said Zhu Guangyao, vice director of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA).

He made the remarks at the opening ceremony of a coordination workshop for customs and ODS officers in South Asia, Southeast Asia and Pacific region, sponsored by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and SEPA.

More than 70 customs and ODS officers from 39 countries attended the workshop, which aims to improve regional cooperation between countries for control and monitoring of ODS trade.

Zhu said that to deal with the illegal trade, the Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Customs established an office and adopted measures, including import and export quotas and licensing system, he said.

Meanwhile, marked progress has been made in the training of customs officers and the capacity building on the management of ODS import and export, he said.

Zhu said that he expected relative inspection equipment could be installed at Chinese customs with the help of international aidto facilitate the quick recognition of ODS.

China will also speed up the establishment of a national electronic information network to monitor the trade so that any smuggling activities could be discovered in time, he said.

Zhu believed that the workshop will provide a good opportunity for countries in the region to enhance cooperation in checking illegal ODS trade.

Also speaking at the ceremony, Monique Barbut, director of UNEP's Division of Technology, Industry and Economics, said that the task of controlling illegal ODS trade was not simple because such trade was on the increase.

Due to the trans-boundary character of the issue, broader cooperation and information exchange between countries, regional and international organizations, NGOs and industry are required, she said.

"Underlying to its success is the training of customs officers at the national level," she noted.

UNEP has launched Green Customs Initiative's workplan for 2004 and 2005, which includes the organization of integrated customs training workshops in each region. For the Asia region, such a workshop will be organized in Bhutan in the fall this year.

"Several countries in the Asian region will be invited to attend the training, for which the final details still need to be finalized," she said.

After the opening ceremony, a memorandum of understanding was signed by Liu Xiaohui, head of the Beijing-based Regional Intelligence Liaison Office under the World Customs Organization, and Surendra Shrestha, director of UNEP Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.

The MoU is aimed at further cooperation between the two organizations in information exchange, law enforcement and technical assistance.

The ozone layer shields the Earth from the harmful ultraviolet-B radiation of the sun. It also completely screens out lethal UV-Cradiation.

Under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer and its Amendments, developing countries that are party to the protocol must reduce and then phase-out both the production and consumption of ODS according to a specific timetable.

China has pledged to phase out major ODS production and consumption by 2010.