REFRIGERANTS
Brexit and illegal imports I
Sarah Hughes, European commercial director of one of the world’s leading fluoroproducts company, Koura, discusses the impact of Brexit on the illegal refrigerant trade.
t’s no understatement to say that Brexit is bringing uncertainty into many areas of industry. The refrigerants landscape is no different, but when we leave the EU, will there be an impact on the illegal refrigerant trade, that has become rife across Europe? How will the UK remain at the forefront to help combat this issue? Illegal trade in all forms is an ongoing battle, but within the refrigerant market, it is an extremely difficult trade to track and quantify. A 2018 report from the Environmental Investigation Agency (IEA), suggests that Europe is facing what it describes as “a substantial level of illegal use and trade in HFCs”.
The report found that more than 80% of companies surveyed were aware of or suspected illegal HFC trade and 72% had seen or been offered refrigerants in illegal disposable cylinders. The report discusses customs data for 2018, which demonstrates that a large number of EU member states significantly increased HFC imports, despite the major HFC supply cut of 37%, intimating that bulk HFC imports in 2018 were too high for compliance with the 2018 quota. There are penalties and legislation in place to discourage illegal imports but, of course, these require significant efforts to uphold and differ from country to country.
The European Fluorocarbons Technical Committee (EFCTC) has uncovered huge differences between the member states in how they approach the penalties for breaches. A report, carried out by the EFCTC and law firm CMS, found that some states have detailed criminal and civil regulations and some have yet to implement the 2014 regulation at all. Many in the industry have become frustrated at the seeming failure of the member states to enforce the regulations, resulting in a chaotic landscape. The lack of consistency of penalties and the low fines incurred for those found in breach of the rules has led to a disjointed approach and an easier system for criminals to penetrate, which is ultimately an area for huge improvement.
The Environmental Audit Report, UK Progress on reducing F-Gas Emissions, has called for the government to ensure that adequate resources were allocated to monitoring illegal activities – especially online – and that only qualified persons handle F-Gases.
Producers, importers and exporters will need to apply for separate UK and EU quotas. The European Commission (EC) is also creating an IT system, scheduled for 2021, which will allow for the tracking of all incoming related shipments.
Meanwhile, many EU member states are building databases for all relevant imports and working closely with the EC to provide data.
The UK has already said it will regulate F-Gases in the case of no-deal, with most of the EU requirements being transferred into UK law. This means we will continue to restrict greenhouse gases and use the same phase-down schedule (by 79% by 2030 relative to a 2009 to 2012 baseline).
The rules will apply in areas such as preventing unintentional release of F-Gases during production and use, minimising repairing and checking leakages, recovering F-Gases from equipment for recycling, reclamation or destruction and labelling. Individual installation and servicing qualifications and certifications will not change. What will change is the introduction of new UK IT systems to manage and report on quotas and usage and these will be administered by the Environment Agency.
As an industry we are committed to ensuring that Britain remains at the forefront of the fight against illegal imports, helping to join up the member states and industries affected. Even if the UK has to forge its own path after Brexit, we will be closely following that of the EU and continue to work closely, ensuring reporting standards are upheld.
Naturally, Brexit is going to cause additional problems in the form of even lengthier customs
34 December 2019
www.acr-news.com
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