The Ministry of the
Environment and Water Resources has joined forces with the Trinidad and Tobago
Bureau of Standards (TTBS) to better monitor the imports of refrigerants to
ensure the quality and safety of refrigerants used in the air conditioning and
refrigeration sector in Trinidad and Tobago. This alliance will improve
national efforts to address the global issue of depletion of the ozone layer,
as well as provide for stricter control on the quality of refrigerants being
brought into the country. The Ministry has provided 3 Multi-refrigerant
Identifiers to the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standard (TTBS) to aid in this
monitoring effort. This is one of the initiatives taken on by the Ministry to
phase out Ozone Depleting Gases under the Montreal Protocol.
All refrigerants and refrigerating
equipment are under control of the Import and Export Negative Lists and require
a license. All imports of
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) have been banned since December 31 2007. Restriction on Imports of
hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) began in January 2013.
There will also be a
ban on imports of equipment using HCFCs such as R 22 effective January 1st
2015. This will include all HCFC based
air-conditioning or refrigeration equipment including any air-cooling, heating
or dehumidifying unit or system, refrigeration or freezer unit, equipment or
system, display cabinets, bottle coolers, vending machines, dispensing units
and soda fountains.
From Left to Right; Dr. Marissa Gowrie, Mr.
Theodore Reddock, Mr. Steve Williams, Mr. Errol Ramjohn, Mrs. Vidiah
Ramkhelawan.
