EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
HCFC stakeholder progress sluggish
By Ilana Koegelenberg and John Ackermann
The quarterly HCFC stakeholder meeting took place on 19 September 2017, but progress seem
to be lagging as many of the action points remain unchanged.
T
he meeting took place at its usual
venue at the Department of
Environmental Affairs (DEA) in Pretoria
and was chaired by Margaret Molefe in
the absence of Obed Baloyi.
Many of the usual industry stakeholders
were absent, while others came from
all over (some even flew up from Cape
Town for the day) to take part in the
discussions on the future of HCFCs and
HFCs in South Africa.
The first order of business was to go
through the minutes of the previous
meeting and discuss the various action
points identified. Most of the items were
deferred to later in the agenda. However,
it was reported that quota allocations for
HCFC imports, as of 1 January 2018, would
all have a validity date of 31 December
of the year issued. This matter had been
discussed before with the International
Trade Administration Commission (ITAC)
and would finally be implemented.
HPMP ROADSHOW
The first discussion point on the agenda was
on the HCFC Phase-out Management Plan
(HPMP), starting with feedback regarding
the long-standing agenda point of
organising a roadshow.
The DEA reported that a
concept has been drafted
and that they have been
communicating with the
United Nations Industrial
Development Organisation
(UNIDO) in terms of budget
and content.
Yuri Sorokin, UNIDO
(based in Austria) and
monitor of South Africa’s
HPMP, was present
and confirmed that the
proposed roadshow was
being reviewed and was
one of the items on his
agenda during his three-
day visit and meetings
with the DEA.
Lubabalo Maweni of
This year we celebrate 30 years since signing the Montreal
the
DEA confirmed that
Protocol, globally kick-starting the phase out of refrigerants
the roadshow is planned
with negative environmental impacts.
38
for February/March 2018 and UNIDO
has allocated USD70 000, subject to
the submission of detailed quotations
and content of the full programme.
The proposed programme would be
circulated to stakeholders for comment.
MOBILE RECLAMATION MACHINE
The next agenda point dealt with
an update on the mobile refrigerant
reclamation systems, sourced and
donated by UNIDO. The systems of
reclaim units, gas analysers, platform
scales, small recovery units, a selection
of 600 reclaim cylinders of different
capacities (includes four of 900ℓ
capacity), pressure gauges, and so on
are currently sitting in Europe, waiting to
be shipped to South Africa. Four stations
have been ‘donated’ and are awaiting
shipping instructions from the DEA.
The first meeting of the task team to
address the reclaim units took place
prior to the HCFC stakeholder meeting,
to deal with the concerns raised at
the meeting of 29 June 2017. The task
team reported that the issues of custom
clearance, storage, safety, training, and
the development of policy had been
discussed.
They also discussed benchmarking to
see how other countries have implemented
similar systems and proposed a study tour
(possibly at the end of the year) to Mexico
and/or Argentina.
It was again suggested that a pilot
site be set-up in South Africa before all
www.coldlinkafrica.co.za
four systems are brought into the country;
however, this would add to the shipping
and clearing costs.
In the interim, the task team will draft
the minimum requirements for any
party wanting to bid to operate any
of the four systems, and compile an
infrastructure policy.
R141B CONVERSION PLAN
Alan Yates from UNIDO was up next to give
an update on the R141B conversion project,
which he reported to be successful, as
R141B was no longer being imported.
All the new foaming equipment funded
through the UNIDO programme has been
successfully imported, barring one that is
still in progress. The equipment is currently
being commissioned and everything
should be wrapped up by the end of the
year. Sorokin would visit some of the sites
during his visit.
ODS REGULATION AMENDMENTS
The DEA reported that the amendment of
the ODS regulations, as proposed by the
stakeholders, has been done and circulated
for comment.
HFC MANAGEMENT
The next big discussion point was HFCs. The
DEA reported that the HFC regulations and
ratification of the Kigali Amendment to the
Montreal Protocol have been put on hold,
mainly due to uncertainty in terms of funding.
This is because the US has pulled out of the
initial Paris Agreement.
COLD LINK AFRICA • November | December 2017