Viet Nam’s industries could be free of Chloroflurocarbons (CFC) by next year and of Hydrochloroflurocarbons (HCFC) in two decades, the deputy director of the ministry’s Meteorology, Hydrology and Climate Change Department, Nguyen Khac Hieu, said at a seminar in HCM City last Friday on the threshold of the International Day for Ozone Layer Protection, September 16.

"So far, expelling CFCs has cost USD7.3 million in Bilateral Funds on Ozone, but getting rid of HCFCs by 2030 is a more expensive proposition," said Luong Duc Khoa of the ministry’s climate change division.

Viet Nam approved the Montreal Treaty on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer in 1994 and will complete its commitments on CFCs next year when their import is banned.

This year, Viet Nam only imported 10 tonnes of R-12, a CFC-group substance used in aroma sprayer production. The country’s ODS consumption overall accounts for one sixth of Thailand’s, which uses 6,000 to 10,000 tonnes per year, according to Khoa.

Still, Viet Nam uses five classes each of CFCs and HCFCs: CFC- 11 and - 12 in individual housing and old-class automobile air-conditioners; Halon 2402 and 1301 in automatic fire fighting systems by Vietsopetro Company; CTC and HCFC 22, 1221, 123, 1416 in heat-proof board and shoe production; and methyl bromide in agricultural pesticides.

In 2005, the Government issued a decree requiring approval from the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to import CFC/HCFC and CFC/HCFC-related equipment, in an attempt to limit them.

Khoa said the department would work with World Bank to launch a publicity campaign about the dangers of ODSs and to provide modern equipment for 850 facilities that install and repair air conditioners and freezers. He hailed HCM City customs officers for tightening up their checks of second-hand chilling machines used for cold ware-houses in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta. Those machines demand gases containing a high concentration of CFCs. He also called on citizens in all economic sectors to save power and help reduce ODSs.