99–115 PDF

107TH CONGRESS EXEC. RPT.

2d Session " ! SENATE 107–10

AMENDMENTS TO THE MONTREAL PROTOCOL ON

SUBSTANCES THAT DEPLETE THE OZONE LAYER

OCTOBER 2, 2002.—Ordered to be printed

Mr. BIDEN, from the Committee on Foreign Relations,

submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany Treaty Docs. 106–10 and 106–32]

The Committee on Foreign Relations, to which were referred the

Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete

the Ozone Layer, adopted at Montreal on September 15-17, 1997

by the Ninth Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol; and

the Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, adopted at Beijing on December 3, 1999 by the Eleventh Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon and recommends that the Senate give its advice and consent to

ratification thereof as set forth in this report and the accompanying

resolutions of advice and consent to ratification.

CONTENTS

Page

I. Purpose ........................................................................................................... 1

II. Background .................................................................................................... 2

III. Entry Into Force ............................................................................................ 4

IV. Committee Action and Comments ................................................................ 4

V. Texts of Resolutions of Advice and Consent to Ratification ....................... 5

I. PURPOSE

The purposes of the 1997 amendment (hereafter the ‘‘Montreal

Amendment’’) are the expansion of trade controls to include methyl

bromide and the addition of a licensing requirement for trade in

certain controlled substances. The purposes of the 1999 amendment (hereafter the ‘‘Beijing Amendment’’) are the addition of

bromochloromethane as a controlled substance, along with associated control measures; the addition of a freeze in the level of production of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (‘‘HCFCs’’) from January 1,

2004; the addition of a ban on trade with non-Parties in HCFCs

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from January 1, 2004; and the addition of reporting requirements

on the annual use of methyl bromide for quarantine and pre-shipment purposes.

II. BACKGROUND

The Letters of Submittal from the Secretary of State to the President, dated September 10, 1999 and set forth in Treaty Document

106–10 (for the Montreal Amendment) and March 24, 2000 and set

forth in Treaty Document 106–32 (for the Beijing Amendment) provide background to these treaties. Below is additional background

to the underlying Montreal Protocol and the pending amendments

to the Protocol.

Vienna Convention. In 1985, the discovery of a rapid decrease in

the stratospheric ozone layer over Antarctica led to the negotiation

and ratification of the Vienna Convention on the Protection of the

Ozone Layer, a framework treaty setting forth the general obligations of the Parties and creating a structure for addressing the

problem. It identified a number of chemical substances thought to

have the potential of affecting the ozone layer and committed its

Parties to a program of research into the causes and effects of

ozone depletion and to cooperative efforts to limit ‘‘human activities’’ found to contribute to any adverse effects. It contemplated the

future negotiation and adoption of protocols and annexes that

would impose more specific obligations as scientific knowledge

about the causes and effects of ozone depletion increased. The Senate gave its advice and consent to the Convention in 1986 and the

United States ratified the agreement later that year. It has now

been ratified by 184 countries.

Montreal Protocol. In 1987, the Conference of the Parties to the

Convention (the assembly of states that ratified it) negotiated the

Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer,

with Annexes. The Protocol identified chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

and halons as substances that needed to be controlled because of

their contribution to the depletion of the ozone layer. Annex A required Parties to the Protocol to reduce their consumption and production of these ‘‘controlled substances’’ by 50 percent from their

1986 level by 1999, and, within one year of the Protocol’s entry into

force, to eliminate trade in such substances with states that are not

Parties to the Protocol. The Protocol also conferred on the Conference of Parties the authority to make adjustments in the schedule of reduction in the production and consumption of the controlled substances without further reference to the State Parties for

ratification. In addition, the Protocol authorized the Conference to

make recommendations on what additional chemicals should be included on the list of substances needing to be controlled and what

schedule of reductions in production and use should be applied. The

Protocol made such additions subject to ratification by two-thirds

of the State Parties. The Senate gave its advice and consent to the

Protocol in March 1988; the President ratified the agreement on

April 5, 1988. The Protocol entered into force in early 1989; to date,

it has been ratified by 183 countries.

Since entry into force of the Protocol, several amendments have

been agreed to by the Conference of the Parties to the Protocol. The

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amendments are cumulative, in that a nation may not become a

party to one without being party to the prior amendments.

London Amendment. In 1990, the Conference of Parties to the

Protocol agreed to apply the Protocol to additional substances believed to contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer and to accelerate the phase-out of all of the identified substances. The London

Amendment added fully halogenated CFCs, carbon tetrachloride,

and methyl chloroform to the list of substances needing to be controlled because of their effect on the ozone layer (Annexes A and

B); mandated the elimination of the production and consumption of

CFCs, halons, and carbon tetrachloride by January 1, 2000, and of

methyl chloroform by January 1, 2005 (except for certain essential

uses); barred trade in these substances with countries that are not

Parties to the Protocol; created a separate timetable of reductions

for developing countries and established a special fund to help developing countries meet their obligations. The Senate gave its advice and consent to the Amendment in November 1991. The London Amendment entered into force in 1992 and has now been ratified by 163 countries.

Copenhagen Amendment. Another amendment to the Montreal

Protocol was agreed to at Copenhagen in 1992 after several countries (including the United States) had unilaterally decided to accelerate the phase-out of ozone-depleting substances beyond what

was mandated by the London Amendment. The Copenhagen

Amendment provided for phase-out of consumption and production

of CFCs (including fully halogenated CFCs), methyl chloroform,

and carbon tetrachloride by January 1, 1996, and of halons by January 1, 1994. Hydrobromofluorocarbons (HBFCs) and methyl bromide were also added to the controlled substances list, with the

former scheduled for developed-state phase-out by January 1, 1996,

and consumption and production of the latter to be frozen at 1991

levels. Finally, HCFCs were added to the controlled substances list

and required to be phased out gradually by 2030. The Senate gave

its advice and consent to the Copenhagen Amendment in November

1993. The amendment entered into force in 1994 and has now been

ratified by 141 countries.

Vienna Accord. In 1995, the Conference of the Parties to the

Montreal Protocol agreed to phase out consumption of methyl bromide in developed states by 2010. The Conference also made modest adjustments in the phase-out schedule for HCFCs. These

changes (known as the Vienna Accord) were within the existing authority of the Conference of the Parties under Article 2 of the Protocol and did not need to be submitted to the Senate for its advice

and consent.

Montreal Amendment. The Montreal Amendment was negotiated

at a 1997 Conference of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol. This

amendment would include methyl bromide in the ban on trade in

controlled substances with countries that are not Parties to the

Montreal Protocol. As a means of helping to prevent unlawful

trade, it would also obligate all Parties to institute a system of licensing for the import and export of all new, used, recycled, and

reclaimed controlled substances, including methyl bromide.

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Beijing Amendment. The Beijing Amendment was adopted in Beijing on December 3, 1999, at a meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol. The amendment would add bromochloromethane to

the list of substances needing to be controlled and phase-out its

production and use by 2002; impose a freeze on the consumption

of HCFCs beginning in 2004; ban all trade of HCFCs and

bromochloromethane between Parties to the amendment and nonParties; and require each State Party to submit statistical data on

the amount of methyl bromide used for quarantine and pre-shipment applications. The Beijing Amendment requires prior or simultaneous ratification of the Montreal Amendment as a precondition

to its ratification.

III. ENTRY INTO FORCE

Both the Montreal Amendment and the Beijing Amendment have

entered into force, having attained the requisite 20 ratifications.

The Montreal Amendment entered into force on November 10,

1999, and to date has been ratified by 83 countries. The Beijing

Amendment entered into force on February 25, 2002, and has so

far been ratified by 36 countries.

If the United States ratifies the two treaties, they will enter into

force 90 days after the deposit of the instrument of ratification.

IV. COMMITTEE ACTION AND COMMENTS

The Committee held a hearing to review the two treaties on May

7, 2002 (S. Hrg. 107–594). On August 1, 2002, the Committee ordered them favorably reported by unanimous voice votes, and recommended that the Senate give its advice and consent to each treaty.

One issue deserves mention. A prior adjustment to the obligations regarding consumption of HCFCs provided for a compliance

grace period ending in 2016 for ‘‘Article 5’’ countries, that is, those

countries considered by Article 5 of the Montreal Protocol to be ‘‘developing’’ countries. That adjustment also established the baseline

year as 2015 for those developing countries. The Beijing Amendment applies the same rules to HCFC production.

While some limited grace period measured from the time of signature of the amendment may be justified, the establishment of a

baseline period 15 years into the future is longer than the decadelong grace periods established in the original Protocol and the London amendment. Moreover, the grace periods in the original Protocol and the London amendment included limits on the baseline—

either averages of production and consumption in future years, or

per capita limits. The establishment of a baseline year far into the

future without any upper limits on the baseline consumption or

production opens the door to unwarranted increases in production

and consumption, which, if significant, would thereby undermine

the purpose of controlling the substances in question. The Committee urges that this practice not be continued in subsequent

amendments to the Protocol.

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V. TEXTS OF RESOLUTIONS OF ADVICE AND CONSENT TO

RATIFICATION

MONTREAL AMENDMENT

Resolved (two-thirds of the Senators present concurring therein),

That the Senate advise and consent to the ratification of the

Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete

the Ozone Layer, adopted at Montreal on September 15–17, 1997,

by the Ninth Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol (Treaty Doc. 106–10).

BEIJING AMENDMENT

Resolved (two-thirds of the Senators present concurring therein),

That the Senate advise and consent to the ratification of the

Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete

the Ozone Layer, adopted at Beijing on December 3, 1999, by the

Eleventh Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol (Treaty

Doc. 106–32).

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