Aug 17, 2012

AMMAN -- Imported refrigerators and air conditioners that use ozone-depleting gases will be banned from entering the local market as of this year, according to the Ministry of Environment.

Environment Minister Yaseen Khayyat on Thursday said that the ministry is in the process of purchasing devices and equipment to test the gases used in the manufacturing of household and commercial refrigerators, air conditioners and chillers (large cooling units such as those used in central air conditioning systems).

"The ministry will provide the Jordan Customs Department (JCD) and the Jordan Institute for Standards and Metrology (JISM) with the devices and equipment by the end of next month," Khayyat said in a statement issued by the ministry.

The ministry is keen on controlling the import of appliances that use ozone-depleting gases and re-exporting the ones found to be containing them in implementation of local regulations and international conventions.

Ghazi Odat, director of the environment ministry's ozone project, told The Jordan Times on Thursday that the equipment would be purchased as part of a grant from the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol.

"The JCD and JISM personnel will be trained on how to use and maintain the devices," Odat added.

He underscored that Jordan has phased out all central cooling systems using chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), which damage the ozone layer.

A total of 1,500 tonnes of CFCs were phased out by replacing central cooling systems using CFCs in 165 institutions. 

CFCs damage the ozone layer by reducing its ability to absorb ultraviolet rays and allowing them to penetrate into the atmosphere, thus threatening life on Earth, according to experts.

Jordan is a signatory to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of a number of substances believed to be responsible for ozone depletion.

Last September, the environment ministry launched a national strategy for phasing out hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC), which also cause ozone depletion.

"We have phased out CFCs in Jordan and have now started phasing out HCFCs," said Odat. "The new devices will help us achieve this goal."

There are around 1,600 institutions in Jordan with central cooling systems that use HCFCs, which are compounds made up of hydrogen, chlorine, fluorine and carbon atoms that were created in the 1980s as substitutes for CFCs for use in refrigeration and a wide variety of manufacturing processes. 

© Jordan Times 2012