involved in this case as offenders and the Chinese supplier, the Russian addressee as well as the shipping company were all imposed with cease and desist orders requiring full destruction of all illegal ODS refrigerants international and payment of storage costs conditional to a penalty. smuggling activities. Eventually the shipping company appealed to this There are also more of cease and desist order. this kind of broadly formulated Shipping company’s view prohibitions. So also The company’s position was that they were wrongly labelling as HFC’s (R-134a and R-407c) for other areas this addressed as offender in this case and not be the bottles contained partly HCFC-22 and statement is of blamed as they must be able to rely on the accuracy of CFC-12 interest. Carriers will the product information provided by the other parties have to take their involved. It cannot be expected from them to check the responsibilities and be Legislation content of all gas bottles. They are suffering from the According to the European Ozone more active in actions of the Chinese and Russian parties. Regulation (EC) No 1005/2009 and related preventing violations Dutch national legislation such import of of this kind of import The Ruling Ozone Depleting Substances is illegal and bans. In its Ruling no 201706000/1/A1 from 25, 2018, this ban on import is broadly formulated the Netherlands Council of State did not agree and puts addressing everyone involved. Link to the full ruling the Environmental Inspectorate in the right. The import of the NL Council of ban is also targeting a shipping company which can be (in Dutch): therefor also considered as offender. Furthermore, from a professional carrier some research into the contents of the bottles can be expected. The Council of State also found important that it was a known smuggling route of ozone depleting substances. Furthermore, the carrier could check the gas cylinders in a relatively easy way through sampling.
labelling as HFC’s (R-134a and R-407c) the bottles contained partly HCFC-22 and CFC-12 Legislation According to the European Ozone Regulation (EC) No 1005/2009 and related Dutch national legislation such import of Ozone Depleting Substances is illegal and this ban on import is broadly formulated addressing everyone involved. involved in this case as offenders and the Chinese supplier, the Russian addressee as well as the shipping company were all imposed with cease and desist orders requiring full destruction of all illegal ODS refrigerants and payment of storage costs conditional to a penalty. Eventually the shipping company appealed to this cease and desist order. Shipping company’s view The company’s position was that they were wrongly addressed as offender in this case and not be blamed as they must be able to rely on the accuracy of the product information provided by the other parties involved. It cannot be expected from them to check the content of all gas bottles. They are suffering from the actions of the Chinese and Russian parties. The Ruling In its Ruling no 201706000/1/A1 from 25, 2018, the Netherlands Council of State did not agree and puts the Environmental Inspectorate in the right. The import ban is also targeting a shipping company which can be therefor also considered as offender. Furthermore, from a professional carrier some research into the contents of the bottles can be expected. The Council of State also found important that it was a known smuggling route of ozone depleting substances. Furthermore, the carrier could check the gas cylinders in a relatively easy way through sampling. international smuggling activities. There are also more of this kind of broadly formulated prohibitions. So also for other areas this statement is of interest. Carriers will have to take their responsibilities and be more active in preventing violations of this kind of import bans. Link to the full ruling of the NL Council of (in Dutch):