Belize's Refrigerant Management Plan

As already mentioned, the Refrigerant Management Plan (RMP) was approved by the Executive Committee, together with the Country Programme, in November 1999. The RMP consisted of the following projects:

1. Implementation of a national programme for recovery and recycling of CFC-12 refrigerants.

2. Policy dialogue programme and regulatory framework for phasing out ODSs and related technologies.

3. Monitoring and control of ODS and ODS based equipment and training programme for Customs and Enforcement Officers.
4. Training of trainers and refrigeration technicians on "Good Practices in Refrigeration".

In December 2003, the country presented a Final Report on the Implementation of the RMP at the 43rd Meeting of the Executive Committee. The main results of the RMP implementation were:

1. The project “National programme for recovery and recycling of CFC-12 refrigerant” trained 32 refrigeration technicians on Recovery & Recycling of ODSs and on how to use the Equipment for R&R. It also created one recycling center and equipped 6 service workshops with recovery equipment and 5 MAC workshops with R&R equipment.

2. The project “Policy dialogue programme and regulatory framework for phasing out ODSs” allowed the detailed discussion and agreement on the Pollution (Amendment) Regulations, SI #60 of 2002, and its corresponding Customs (Amendment) Regulations, SI #63 of 2002, before finalization. It also allowed the creation of the Training Manual (Hand Book) for implementation of the “ODS Import Export Licensing System”.

3. The project “Monitoring and control of ODS and ODS based equipment and training programme for Customs and inspection officers” facilitated the training of 9 Senior Customs Officers, 7 Key Personnel from Police Department, Ministry of Finance and Bureau of Standards and over 75 Customs and Enforcement Officers were trained in the implementation of the national import/export licensing system.

4. The project “Training of trainers and refrigeration technicians in good servicing practices” trained 14 trainers and 77 service technicians on good practices in refrigeration including recovery and recycling of refrigerants. It also distributed 3 R&R machines to one training center and 2 private enterprises, and allowed the creation of a “Trainer’s Presentation Guide” to be used for the further training of technicians.

5. During the execution of the RMP (2001 – 2005) CFC consumption moved from 28 ODP tones (2001) to 9.6 ODP tones (2005), pointing to the achievement of the anticipated consumption reduction of the RMP.