Decision 54/11

Following the discussion, the Executive Committee decided:

1. To encourage Article 5 countries implementing phase-out plans to consider:
   1. Issuing decrees (orders usually emanating at the ministerial level), to the extent possible, so as to introduce the needed policies, bans and restrictions, given the complexity and time required to create or amend legislation;
   2. Undertaking a comprehensive needs analysis for the further training of customs officers, and developing a training plan utilizing the train-the-trainer approach and integrating ODS issues into the regular curriculum in order to create sustainable training capacities;
   3. The possibility of eventually charging participants or their employers fees for technician training so as to increase their sense of ownership and generate funds for additional training activities;
   4. Using voucher systems to enable workshops to select the recovery and recycling (R&R) equipment that they wanted and needed, while paying for part of the cost both to increase the likelihood of that equipment being used and to allow a greater amount of equipment to be purchased;
   5. When developing business plans for reclamation centres, demonstrating how such centres could be made self-sustainable;
   6. Undertaking a needs analysis, where not yet done, or at the least an estimate based on best available information or surveys, and developing comprehensive training plans for the remaining numbers of refrigeration technicians to be trained;
   7. Routinely monitoring local market-place conditions as prices for CFCs, and their substitutes tended to be good indicators of the potential risk for illegal trade;
2. To request UNEP’s Compliance Assistance Programme regional offices to disseminate to all interested Article 5 countries the on-line interactive customs training module and the manual for customs officers developed in Argentina;
3. To request the implementing agencies:
   1. To carefully complete the new multi-year agreement (MYA) overview tables for all additional tranches requested, in cooperation with the National Ozone Units (NOUs) and project management units concerned;
   2. To improve the content and clarity of annual implementation reports (AIPs) by reflecting the data in the MYA overview tables and explaining the difference between planned and actual results for both the reporting year and in cumulative terms for the whole national phase-out plan;
   3. To indicate the cost of the verification reports in the AIPs and annual work plans and ensure that all the verification guidelines were followed;
   4. To find other means of cross-checking customs data to provide the Executive Committee with the required assurances in countries where individual company data were not accessible; and
   5. To explore options for working with government auditors in those countries where that would result in better access to data.