China announced today its first list of controlled ozone-depleting substances (ODS) as part of its pledge to meet international obligations in ozone layer protection.

The list, included in a circular jointly signed by China's top environmental protection, foreign trade and customs departments earlier last week, specifies that imports of carbon tetrachlorine, an ozone depleting substance, will be banned while unlicensed exports and imports of seven other ODS will be illegal as of April 1.

The seven ODS are CFC (chlorofluorocarbon)-11, CFC-12, CFC-113,CFC-114, CFC-13, Halon-1211, and Halon-1301.

All ODS traders are required to report to the National ODS Export and Import Administration Office by January 31 regarding their contracts involving ODS trade, and must implement these contracts by March 31.

A licensing system to regulate the ODS trade has been set up by China's State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC) and the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

SEPA and MOFTEC are held responsible for registering companies engaging in ODS trade, and for annual export and import quotas for all of China as well as individual companies. The MOFTEC is in charge of issuing ODS trade licenses, while GAC gives clearance to ODS with licenses issued by METEC.

The international community decided in the Montreal Protocol in 1987 to eliminate most harmful ozone-depleting materials by 2010 in a bid to protect the ozone layer, which shields the earth from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays.