Decision 76/40

The Executive Committee decided:

1. To approve, in principle, stage II of the HCFC phase-out management plan (HPMP) for Panama for the period from 2016 to 2020 to reduce HCFC consumption by 35 per cent of its baseline, in the amount of US $723,654, plus agency support costs of US $50,656 for UNDP;
2. To note the commitment of the Government of Panama:
   1. To issue a ban on the use of HCFC-22 as flushing solvent in the refrigeration servicing sector by 1 January 2018;
   2. To issue a ban on imports of HCFC-141b contained in imported pre-blended polyols by 1 January 2020;
   3. To issue a ban on new installations for and on the manufacture of HCFC-based extruded polystyrene foam by 1 January 2018;
   4. To undertake efforts to extend the bans on imports and use of HCFCs to the Free Trade Zone;
   5. To introduce measures by 2020 to prevent the import of products being converted under the HPMP that were manufactured with HCFC-141b in the Free Trade Zone;
3. To deduct 9.11 ODP tonnes of HCFCs from the remaining HCFC consumption eligible for funding;
4. To approve the Agreement between the Government of Panama and the Executive Committee for the reduction in consumption of HCFCs, in accordance with stage II of the HPMP, contained in Annex XI to the present report;
5. To approve the first tranche of stage II of the HPMP for Panama, and the corresponding tranche implementation plan, in the amount of US $265,100, plus agency support costs of US $18,557 for UNDP; and
6. To request UNDP and the Government of Panama to report in the tranche requests of the stage II of the HPMP on:
   1. The status of the Government’s efforts to obtain data from the systems house in the Free Trade Zone; and
   2. The status of the Government’s efforts to obtain information on HCFCs imported to and exported from the Free Trade Zone.