UNEP/OzL.Pro/WG.1/19/CRP.1
19 May 1999
ENGLISH
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH AND SPANISH
OPEN-ENDED WORKING GROUP OF THE PARTIES TO
THE MONTREAL PROTOCOL ON SUBSTANCES THAT
DEPLETE THE OZONE LAYER
Nineteenth meeting
Geneva, 15-18 June 1999
TRANSITION FOR METERED-DOSE INHALERS (MDIs)
Costa Rica: draft decision
The Eleventh Meeting of the Parties decides:
Decision XI/-. Measures to facilitate the MDI transition
Having reviewed with appreciation the assessment by the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP) on the transition to CFC-free treatments for asthma and chronic obstructive pulinonary disease and Panel's recommendations for a transition framework under the Montreal Protocol that facilitates a rapid CFC phase-out while protecting patient health,
Noting that the the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel has predicted that, by the year 2000, the transition will be making good progress in Parties not operating under Article 5 and that, by the year 2005, there will be minimal need for CFCs for metered-dose inhalers in these Parties,
1. To urge all Parties not operating under Article 5, and to encourage Parties so operating, to develop and implement national transition strategies, with the goal of completing the transition in their domestic markets as expeditiously as possible while protecting patient health;
2. To require each nominating Party to apply the following criteria, in addition to the criteria in decision IV/25, to determine essentiality for purposes of Article 2 of the Protocol:
(a) That the MDI product for which quantities of CFCs are requested:
(i) Has been approved by the Party's national health authority prior to the Eleventh Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, unless that authority has determined that the product will serve an otherwise unmet medical need;
(ii) Is not intended for export to any other Party that has determined the product to be non-essential and has so notified the Secretariat;
(b) That the company requesting the quantities of CFC demonstrates that it is:
(i) Actively pursuing research and development for CFC-free alternatives for its products, individually or jointly with another company, or engaging in good-faith legal negotiations with another company in order to obtain such alternatives;
(ii) Not increasing its strategic reserves of CFCs beyond reasonable levels, as determined by the nominating Party;
(iii) Decreasing its strategic reserves of CFCs in line with declining annual demand for CFCs;
(iv) Committed to, upon completion of its MDI transition, destroying any of its remaining strategic reserves of CFCs, using technologies approved by the Protocol, or transferring such remaining reserves in accordance with paragraph 5 of the present decision;
3. To urge each nominating Party to apply the criteria in paragraph 2 of the present decision with respect to essential uses already authorized by the Parties but not yet allocated to MDI companies by the nominating Party;
4. To strongly urge all nominating Parties to continue to nominate and license the quantities for use in CFC-containing MDIs for export to other Parties, except for products which the importing Party has determined to be non-essential;
5. To allow transfers of CFCs for essential uses between MDI companies as a means of avoiding production of new CFCs, provided that the recipient company has the essential-use authorization and that any such transfer is subsequently reported in the essential-use accounting framework;
6. To request the Executive Committee of the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol to assess the need for financial and technical assistance for Parties operating under Article 5 to develop and implement national transition strategies, and to report to the Twelfth Meeting of the Parties on the results of this assessment;