On 7 August, the China MEP has released a circular (Notice 179 of 2013) to instruct manufacturers, users and sellers (inclusive of importers and exporters) of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) operating details for HCFC quota license application and/or record-keeping with the local environmental authorities.
HCFCs are a group of volatile organic compounds with similar chemical structure to Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), Hydrobromofluorocarbons (HBFCs) and Halons. HCFCs are normally used as refrigerants in refrigerators, freezers and air conditioning systems and also in insulative foams.
Since the release of these substances can destroy the ozone layer and contribute to global warming, their use in industry is being phased out in most of the developed countries. In China, all of the four categories of chemicals (HCFCs, CFCs, HBFCs and Halons) have been included in the MEP issued national controlled OSD list in 2010. According to the Chinese State Council Decree 573 on ODS management and the revised 1999 national ODS phase-out scheme, China will proactively phase out the use of ODS in a wide range of industrial applications such as refrigerants, vesicants, extinguishants, solvents, detergents, processing aid, insecticides, aerosols and swelling agents, etc.
As stipulated in Decree 573, China has established since June of 2010 the system of volume control and quota management for the manufacture, use, import and export of ODS. The annual production/use/import&export gross quota are announced by the MEP after inter-ministry discussions with the MOFCOM. Meanwhile, the prohibited or restricted ODS substances for production, use or import & export have been disseminated regularly on the MEP website since 2002. By the end of 2012 the agency has published 6 batches of “ODS subject to Import & Export Control” (see Chemlinked news on 10 Jan 2013) as well as a “List of Controlled ODSs in China” (in Sep, 2010) including ODS manufactured, used and sold inside the country.
Domestic manufacturers and users must comply with the Decree 573 and MEP Notice 179 of 2013 released on Aug 7th to apply for and obtain the production or use quota license. The applications should be submitted to the MEP before 31 October each year to request the production or use quota for the following year with sufficient documents of proof. MEP inspectors will complete the quota reviews and decide whether to grant the applicant a quota license based on the enterprise productivity, sales and the nation’s overall phase-out scheme.
As to approval of the HCFC production quota, manufacturers should be drawn attention to the following points:
1) The production volume consists of the volume for controlled uses and the volume for raw material uses and the volume for raw material uses will not be taken into account for the production quota limitation.
2) The volume for controlled uses consists of the volume to be used in China (in short as “domestic use”) and the volume for exports. The volume for domestic use are allowed to be exported whereas the volume oriented for exports are banned to be sold internally nor stored as increasing stock of the manufacturer.
3) In case that the HCFC stock of the manufacturer has increased by the year’s end upon the beginning of the year, the increased volume will be counted as the controlled turnout for domestic use, thus subject to the production quota limitation.
Domestic HCFCs users with an annual use volume above 100 t/y should apply for the use quote license (whilst manufacturers do not have the quantity exemption); HCFCs users below the use quantity of 100t/y should also keep a record with provincial MEPs.
Distributors (including manufacturers, retailers and importers & exporters) of HCFCs as well as HCFC mixtures should keep a sale record with the departments of environmental protection. No record-keeping is necessary for manufacturers who have obtained the HCFC production quota license as their information has been recorded during the production quota license arrangement.
Distributors with sales volume of or above 1000 t/y should file the record with China MEP or with the provincial competent authorities if less than 1000 t/y.
Detailed requirements for the HCFC quota application (for manufacturers and users) and the record-keeping application (for users, sellers, importers and exporters) can be downloaded from China’s official website, “Ozone Action in China” (www.ozone.org.cn).
