Port officers trained to monitor banned chemicals

The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), is set to conduct a series of training for 250 customs and ports officers, and other stakeholders nationwide, in monitoring the importation and distribution of ozone-depleting substances (ODS) and other banned chemicals in the country.

EMB Director Julian D. Amador said that the training is expected to upgrade the competencies of the participants in tracking down illegal entry of ODS as well as hazardous wastes. Amador said that "being at the forefront of the country’s efforts to combat illegal trade of ODS and other banned chemicals and hazardous wastes, it is time we also look into upgrading the knowledge and skills of our customs and ports officers, particularly in detecting legal and illegal trade of these substances at the local, regional, and international levels, and the proper handling of seized ODS and ODS-containing equipment and goods."

ODS are chemicals that have the potential to destroy the earth’s stratosphere, the layer in the atmosphere that contains 90 percent of the ozone gas that shields the earth from the harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun.

According to Amador, there are 17 kinds of ODS, the importation and use of which are being strictly monitored by the EMB, in compliance with the country’s commitment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. These substances, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) halons, carbon tetra-chloride and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) are commonly used as refrigerant, blowing agent, propellant, solvent, and fire extinguishing agent.

In a related development, the EMB has linked up with the Technical Education and Skill Development Authority (TESDA) for the development of a competency-based curriculum for refrigeration/airconditioning and mobile airconditioning technical courses. A workshop for this purpose was conducted over the week in Tagaytay City.

Amador said the development of the competency-based curriculum on refrigeration and air-conditioning is part of measures being implemented by the government to enhance the country’s compliance with the Montreal Protocol that requires nations to gradually reduce their CFC consumption and production.

He added that since refrigeration and automobile air-conditioning service sectors have the largest demand for CFCs, it is "incumbent upon the government to institute measures to upgrade the skills of these sectors to prepare them for the total phase-out of CFCs and the phasing in of substitute chemicals that are not harmful to the environment." Based on the National CFC Plan, the importation and use of CFCs in the country would be reduced to 50 percent by 2005, and a total phase-out of 2010.