On March 9, the Government of Uzbekistan approved the National Program to End the Use of Ozone Depleting Substances, the Ministry of Justice said.
The document defines the goals and strategic axes for the elimination of the use of ozone-depleting substances (ODS).
The program provides for the:
- termination of the import and export of ODS and products containing them to Uzbekistan and the establishment of strict control in this area;
- formation of a database on the ODS imports and exports and products containing them;
- creation of six new ODS processing centers.
The first National Program in this area was approved by a decree of the Cabinet of Ministers in 2000.
In 2016, 99.95% of ODS was withdrawn from circulation in Uzbekistan, which was ahead of the deadlines specified in the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, which took effect on January 1, 1989. The total consumption of ODS has been reduced from 1967.2 to 9.86 tons (taking into account the ozone-depleting potential), or by 99.5% in relation to 1989.
Uzbekistan joined the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and its Montreal Protocol in May 1993. In 1998, the country signed the London and Copenhagen Amendments, and in 2006 it ratified the Montreal and Beijing Amendments to the Protocol.
