VATIS UPDATE Article

Maldives is set to ban import of HCFC gas from June as it looks to reduce the amount of ODS used in the Maldives. President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has ratified the Bill on Protection of the Ozone Layer, which has also been designed to promote the replacement of ODS with environmentally friendly substances. The bill has been passed by the parliament in November 2015.

The Environment ministry has warned strict penalties for anyone found importing the banned substance from the set date. The Montreal Protocol banned over 96 chemicals of which the Maldives banned importation of ODS in 2003.

The Maldives had also banned CFCs in 2008, which the Montreal Protocol had restricted from use until the year 2010. The Bill on Protection of the Ozone Layer was lobbied to facilitate government authority to minimise and stop the use and importation of ODS to the country, considering the dire need for a system of laws for the Maldives to act on ozone protection agreements the nation has signed and ratified.