SCIENTISTS reported recently that this year's Ozone hole in the Antarctic is the biggest ever recorded. It is in this cold region where severe depletion of the ozone layer is observed, but it doesn't mean that other places are not affected. It is worse in this part of the Earth, but overall there is a thinning of the ozone layer. This means we are less protected against the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays.

The alarming rate of ozone depletion prompted developed and developing countries to draw up an agreement in 1987 to jointly address the problem. The international accord is called the Montreal Protocol, which mandates the gradual phase-out of ozone depleting substances (ODS), such as those that contain bromine and chlorine. The most common ODS are those used as refrigerants and spray-can propellants like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

Since its signing, there has been a tremendous decline in the production of CFCs, thereby making the Montreal Protocol as one of the most successful international agreements. So far, 190 countries have signed it, including the Philippines. The agreement however must be ratified by the signatories for it to be in effect. Our own Senate ratified it on March 21, 1991.

Since our country is not a producer of ODS, compliance with the treaty is through the gradual decrease in importation. Only a limited tonnage of ODS can be imported every year by accredited traders under strict guidelines set by the government. With this import quota, some groups smuggle the substance into the country through various means like false labeling, misdeclaration, concealment and transshipment fraud.
One of the factors that make illegal trading of ODS attractive is the global supply and demand imbalance due to excessive production, which results in lower prices. This cheap ODS discourages the use of substitutes.

Smugglers rely on the assumption that authorities are not technically capable of identifying banned substances. Thus to increase the capabilities of concerned government agencies, a national orientation on combating the illegal trade of ODS was jointly conducted by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Environmental Protection Unit of the Bureau of Customs.

I was invited to witness the opening ceremonies of the training conducted last Oct. 24 to 25, 2006 at the Subic International Hotel in Olongapo City. Unlike in many environmental seminars I attended, I was invited by EMB Regional Director Lormelyn Claudio for this orientation as a member of the media. I expected other media personalities to be present as well, but I was surprised I am the only one in attendance.

The seminar participants came from the Bureau of Customs, the National Anti-Environmental Crime Task Force, the EMB regional office, the PNP Maritime Group, the Philippine Center for Transnational Crime, the Philippine Navy, the Philippine Port Authority, the Philippine Coast Guard, local government units (LGUs), PEZA and Special Economic Zones. My good friend Red Fuentes, CDC environmental department manager and current EPA president, was present.

The training was a combination of lecture and hands-on sessions, which include the actual identification of different types of refrigerants using a machine called refrigerants identifier. Basic information regarding the ozone layer was also tackled.

With this technical training, I hope our regulators and law enforcers will be more effective in halting the illegal entry of ODS. This is not a just job for them, but a mission to safeguard the future of generations to come.

Source: Philippine news, 3 November 2006, By Rox Peña http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/pam/2006/11/03/oped/rox.pe.a.e.ssue.html