Distr.
GENERAL

BUREAU OF THE TENTH MEETING OF THE
PARTIES TO THE MONTREAL PROTOCOL
ON SUBSTANCES THAT DEPLETE
THE OZONE LAYER
First meeting
Geneva, 14 June 1999

        1. The first meeting of the Bureau of the Tenth Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was held in Geneva at the Palais des Nations on 14 June 1999.

2. The meeting was opened at 3 p.m. on Monday, 14 June 1999 by Mr. Vassily N. Tselikov (Russian Federation), President of the Tenth Meeting of the Parties.

3. It was attended by the following members of the Bureau, who had been elected to their respective posts by the Tenth Meeting of the Parties, held in Cairo on 23 and 24 November 1998, or nominated by their Governments in accordance with rule 24 of the rules of procedure.

4. The meeting was also attended by Mr. Nelson Sabogal (Programme Officer/Scientist) and Mr. Paul Silfvenius (Administrative Officer) of the Ozone Secretariat.

5. The Bureau adopted the following provisional agenda contained in document UNEP/OzL.Pro.10/Bur.1/1:

6. Mr. Nelson Sabogal (Programme Officer/Scientist) of the Ozone Secretariat welcomed the members of the Bureau on behalf of the Executive Director of UNEP, Mr. Klaus Töpfer and the Executive Secretary of the Ozone Secretariat, Mr. K.M. Sarma.

7. The Secretariat introduced the note contained in document UNEP/OzL.Pro.10/Bur.1/2, which gave a brief summary of the action the Secretariat had taken to implement the decisions adopted by the Tenth Meeting of the Parties.

8. With regard to decision X/1, the Secretariat reported the status of ratification as follows: Vienna Convention - 169 Parties, Montreal Protocol - 168, London Amendment - 127, Copenhagen Amendment - 90, Montreal Amendment - 14. He pointed out that the Secretariat had reminded all Parties to ratify the amendments not yet ratified by them and had also requested all non-Parties to the Montreal Protocol to ratify the Vienna Convention, the Montreal Protocol, and its amendments expeditiously.

9. With regard to decision X/2, the Secretariat said that letters had been sent out to 89 Parties reminding them to submit data for the period 1996-1997. Reminders had also been sent to those Parties operating under Article 5 to submit data on Annex A and Annex B substances for the years 1995, 1996 and 1997. A very good response had been received from the Parties operating under Article 5 and the data contained in the replies would be analysed by the Implementation Committee.

10. With regard to decision X/3, the Secretariat said that it had already notified those members who had been selected to sit on the Implementation Committee from 1999 and had requested details of their representation.

11. With regard to decision X/6, the Secretariat reported that reminders had been sent to all the Parties who had been granted essential-use exemptions to submit their forms for previous years. For the current year, the following Parties had requested essential-use exemptions: European Community, Hungary, Japan, Poland, Russian Federation and United States of America.

12. Reporting on decision X/7, the Secretariat said that a copy of the decision had been sent to the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP) on 10 December 1998. The Parties had requested the Panel to update its assessment of the future need for halon for critical uses. The Secretariat had circulated to all the Parties a clarification drafted by the Panel regarding the management of halon.

13. With regard to decision X/8, the Secretariat reported that the decision had been sent to the Scientific and the Technology and Economic Assessment Panels in order to carry out further assessments on n-propyl bromide and to identify the sources and availability of halon-1202. In addition, in April 1999 the Secretariat had sent a letter to all Governments requesting information on new ozone-depleting substances.

14. With respect to decision X/9, the Secretariat said that the decision had been communicated to all Parties to the Montreal Protocol in February 1999. The list of countries that do not manufacture for domestic use and do not wish to import products and equipment relying on ozone-depleting substances had been distributed to all Parties and updated regularly. It would be distributed again at the Eleventh Meeting of the Parties and thereafter on an annual basis.

15. With regard to decision X/10, the Secretariat reported that the non-compliance procedure was working very well and that, unless they decided otherwise, the Parties would consider the operation of the non-compliance procedure again, no later than the end of 2003.

16. With regard to decision X/11, the Secretariat said that the decision had been sent to the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel for a report to be prepared as part of its ongoing work. In addition, a letter had been sent to Parties, requesting information on the quantities of methyl bromide used for quarantine and pre-shipment applications and on their regulations to phase out its use.

17. With regard to decision X/12, the Secretariat said that it had requested the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel to investigate further and to report to the Twelfth Meeting of the Parties on issues relating to emissions of ozone-depleting substances from feedstock uses.

18. With regard to decision X/13, the Secretariat said that it had sent the terms of reference for the study on the 2000-2002 replenishment to the Multilateral Fund Secretariat and to the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel. The Task Force on Replenishment set up by the Panel had also sent a questionnaire to several Parties and individuals. The report of the Task Force would be sent to all Parties. In addition, the Ad Hoc Working Group on Replenishment, comprising Canada, China, Cuba, Germany, India, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Japan, Nigeria, Poland, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States of America, Venezuela and Zimbabwe, and chaired by the Co-Chairs of the Open-ended Working Group, was meeting on 14 June 1999 in Geneva.

19. With regard to decision X/14, the Secretariat said that letters had gone out to all Parties requesting Parties that had not done so to submit information for inclusion in tables A and B of decision X/14 before the nineteenth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group. One Party (France) had provided information on an industrial process that should be added to table A and one Party (the European Community) had responded that it had no further information. The Secretariat was currently compiling the information it had received. The Secretariat had also sent decision X/14 to the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel and to the Multilateral Fund Secretariat for the attention of the Executive Committee. A report on the subject would be prepared for the Meeting of the Parties to be held in 2001 would be prepared.

20. With regard to decision X/15, the Secretariat reported that the decision had been sent to the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel for analysis.

21. With regard to decision X/16, the representative of the Secretariat said that the decision had been sent to the Scientific Assessment Panel and the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel for action. The HFC/PFC Task Force of the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel had met in Singapore from 18 to 20 March 1999 on aerosols and foams sectors, in the Netherlands from 12 to 13 April 1999 on the halon and solvent sectors, in Germany from 3 to 4 June 1999 on the refrigeration sector, and in Geneva from 11 to 12 June 1999, on refrigeration and halons.

22. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) at its fifteenth session, held in San José, Costa Rica, from 15 to 18 April 1999, considered the interaction between IPCC and the Montreal Protocol in line with decision X/16 and the decision of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change at its fourth meeting bearing on the relationship between efforts to protect the stratospheric ozone layer and efforts to safeguard the global climate system and issues related to HFCs and PFCs. The workshop with the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change had been held in Petten, the Netherlands, from 26 to 28 May 1999.

23. With regard to decision X/17, the Secretariat reported that the Executive Committee at its twenty-seventh meeting had approved in principle $150 million to fund the phase-out of the entire CFC production capacity in China. A proposal on India's production sector was under consideration.

24. With regard to decision X/18, the Secretariat said that it had established an Internet discussion group on ozone-depleting substances and customs codes, comprising experts from seven Parties, from the World Customs Organization and the Secretariat. The discussion group had been asked to discuss the draft recommendation on customs codes for ozone-depleting substances and mixtures containing such substances adopted provisionally by the Harmonized System Committee of the World Customs Organization at its meeting in November 1998. The draft recommendations of the Harmonized System Committee, as well as comments received so far from the members of the discussion group, could be reviewed at website </ozone/odscustoms-codes>.

25. With regard to decision X/19, the Secretariat reported that the decision had been sent to the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel for its comments.

26. With regard to decisions X/20 and X/28, the Secretariat said that it had communicated the contents of the decisions to the respective Parties and had requested them to update information relating to the implementation of phase-out measures for ozone-depleting substances according to the phase-out schedule applicable to each one. The Implementation Committee was reviewing the information at its twenty-second meeting.

27. With regard to decision X/30, the Secretariat on behalf of the Treasurer provided updated tables showing the status of contributions to the Trust Fund for the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, to the Trust Fund for the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, and to the Trust Fund for the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol. In connection with the contributions to the Trust Fund for the Montreal Protocol and the Trust Fund for the Vienna Convention, he pointed out that the current year had seen a large amount of collections for prior years. Overall, a total of 76.6 per cent of the total 1999 budget of the Secretariat had been collected, which represented a satisfactory state of affairs.

28. In reply to a query from one Bureau member concerning the proposed budget for the years 1999-2000 (UNEP/OzL.Pro.11/5) with regard to the apparent steep increase in staff salary levels, the representative of the Secretariat explained that the figures were in line with UNEP's new policy to present staff costs in a harmonized way. However, there had been no actual dramatic increase in the salary levels of staff. One Bureau member cautioned that, in future, whenever the Secretariat revised its budgeting methods in a way that seemed to indicate dramatic increases in costs, it should pay great attention to explaining to Parties the rationale behind such changes, in order to avoid potential misinterpretation.

29. Concerning decision X/31, the Secretariat reported that an informal group on technology transfer was meeting to consider the issue and a report would be provided to the Eleventh Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol.

30. With regard to decision X/32, the Secretariat said that a report had been prepared on the issue and was before the Open-ended Working Group at its nineteenth meeting as document UNEP/OzL.Pro/WG.1/19/6.

31. In connection with decision X/33, the Secretariat said that it had conveyed the appreciation of the Parties to the Global Environment Facility.

32. With regard to decision X/34, the Secretariat said that the Eleventh Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol and the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer were scheduled to take place in Beijing from 29 November to 3 December 1999. As a way of saving considerable time and resources, the Secretariat proposed that the preparatory meetings be held from 29 November to 1 December 1999 as a designated Technical Segment of the main meetings. In that way, the duration of the meetings would be reduced to five days and a separate report on the preparations would not need to be prepared, as the discussion during the Technical Segment would be incorporated into the reports of the main meetings. The Secretariat proposed that the Technical Segment be chaired by the Co-Chairs of the Open-Ended Working Group, since the issues discussed would be a continuation of the discussions of the Open-ended Working Group at its nineteenth meeting. The Technical Segment would also consider the draft decisions of the meetings.

33. The Secretariat further proposed that the meetings on 2 and 3 December be designated the Ministerial Segment, with an agenda comprising presentations by the Panels and Implementing Agencies, statements by the Chairs of the Executive Committee and the Implementation Committee, statements by Ministers and consideration of the reports of the Executive Committee, Implementation Committee and the Technical Segment. During the Ministerial Segment, the elected Presidents and Rapporteurs of the meetings of the Montreal Protocol and of the Vienna Convention would be on the podium and would conduct the meetings in consultation with each other.

34. The Bureau approved the arrangements proposed by the Secretariat for the upcoming Eleventh Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol.

35. The representative of the Secretariat drew the attention of the Bureau to the documents which were before the Open-ended Working Group at its nineteenth meeting. The list of documents is contained in annex II to the present report.

36. The representative of the Secretariat said that negotiations were proceeding well with the Government of China to finalize a Host Government Agreement for the holding of the upcoming Eleventh Meeting of the Parties. An exploratory mission had been fielded to Beijing and it was hoped that an agreement would soon be finalized confirming the dates and the arrangements for the meeting.

37. No other matters were raised for discussion at the meeting.

38. The meeting rose at 4.30 p.m. on Monday, 14 June 1999.

UNEP, Synthesis of the Reports of the Scientific, Environmental Effects, and Technology and Economic Assessment Panels of the Montreal Protocol. A Decade of Assessments for Decision Makers Regarding the Protection of the Ozone Layer: 1988  1999, pp. 161, 1999. (ISBN 92-807-1733-2).