EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
Various neutral parties also got involved
and John Ackermann of the Southern
African Refrigerated Distribution Association
(SARDA) made the point that we do not
know how long disposable cylinders will still
be produced globally. We cannot produce
these locally and are wholly dependent on
imports. Should there be a global ban, we
would not be prepared for the situation.
Dr Pieter Aucamp, who serves on the
United Nations Environment Programme’s
(UNEP’s) Environmental Effects Assessment
Panel (EEAP), suggested that rather
than looking at banning disposas, which
obviously is being met with too much
resistance, it should be considered how
to dispose of them safely without harming
the environment and releasing harmful
substances into the atmosphere.
Baloyi assured everyone that the
government does not want to take
decisions that will have a negative impact
on the industry or the country.
Ackermann then asked whether the ODS
regulation amendment will be delayed until
this very controversial issue was resolved,
as it was critical that other updates, such
as the requirement for logbooks for plant
rooms, be added to the ODS regulations
as soon as possible. The ODS regulation
update was already long overdue. “We
are overlooking the very important issue of
safety,” Ackermann said.
Baloyi indicated that perhaps they
should go ahead with the amendment
and deal with this point in a future
update instead of holding up the
32
regulation. He then closed the floor for
comments on this matter.
HCFC CONSUMPTION FIGURES
Ndlovu then presented the HCFC
import figures of January 2018 to date
(6 December 2018), based on the
recommendation made by DEA to
the International Trade Administration
Commission (ITAC) for the issuance of
the import and export permits in 2018.
These figures thus show the permits issued
and not necessarily the actual amounts
imported/exported.
R22 consumption (imports minus exports)
was at 138.6 ozone depleting potential
(ODP) tonnes or 2 519.5 metric tonnes, with
other HCFCs being significantly lower.
The total HCFC consumption for 2018 is
as follows:
USE OF 134A IN AUTOMOTIVE
INDUSTRY
A representative from the National
Association of Automobile
Manufacturers of South Africa
(NAAMSA) then gave feedback in
terms of the use of refrigerants in the
automotive industry, speaking on behalf
of manufacturers and importers of new
vehicles only (excluding refrigerated
transport units).
He mentioned that although
R1234yf was presented as an
alternative to HFC134a almost 15 years
ago already, the uptake has been
slow locally — mainly due to cost. It
was confirmed that more than 90% of
vehicles manufactured locally and
exported into Africa still use R134a as
refrigerant.
2018 Import Export Consumption
Metric tonnes 3 062.086 489.9854 2 572.71
ODP tonnes 167.55 26.72 140.83
Our baseline was set at 326 ODP tonnes,
which means that for 2018, where a
25% reduction was required, we had to
consume less than 244.5 ODP tonnes to
reach our target. Our consumption was
only 140.83, which leaves us well within
our phase-out target as stipulated by the
Montreal Protocol. The team said that they
will be able to present the exact, actual
figures at the next meeting, as collated by
the South African Revenue Service (SARS).
KIGALI AMENDMENT RATIFICATION
DEA advised that we are still waiting for a
date to take up the matter in parliament.
Until then, South Africa cannot ratify the
Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.
HFC CONSUMPTION AND
TARIFF CODES
As the revised tariff codes for HFCs is still in
progress, it is not yet possible to track the
imports of these refrigerants. As such, DEA
www.coldlinkafrica.co.za
has requested the figures from importers
and will present it at the next meeting in
March 2019.
According to SARS, the tariff code
document is currently with the deputy
minister of finance and if approved, it will
be gazetted.
MEETINGS AND TRAINING
In terms of the progress for the training of
informal service technicians, a project
steering committee has been formed
and will meet again early in 2019 to
discuss training materials and curriculums.
Compliance monitoring for the
ODS regulations are busy compiling
a report from a tip-off they received
and will provide feedback at the next
meeting. They also did various training
presentations around the country to try
and improve compliance.
DEA briefly gave feedback on other
recent events such as the 30th Meeting
of the Parties (MOP 30) to the Montreal
Protocol on Substances that Deplete
the Ozone Layer, which took place
in November 2018 in Ecuador, as well
as the local National Ozone Unit and
Customs Twinning Workshop and Border
Dialogues for Countries of the SADC
region, which took place in October in
Johannesburg.
There was also another meeting with
the Department of Energy to try and work
together on mutual causes.
The next HCFC stakeholder meeting
was scheduled for 6 March 2019. CLA
COLD LINK AFRICA • March/April 2019