Mozambique to ban entry of refrigerators, air-conditioners that damage the ozone layer – as from next year

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique to ban entry of refrigerators, air-conditioners that damage the ozone layer – as from next year

6:18 CAT | 11 Jun 2024

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: AIM]

The Mozambican government is to ban the import of refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners and other equipment that operate with gases that are harmful to the ozone layer.

“The ozone layer is often destroyed by greenhouse gases and gases that we have in our equipment. Therefore, the import of equipment that uses these hydrochlorofluorocarbon gases will be prohibited,” National Director of Climate Change at the Ministry of Land and Environment Jadwige Massinga said.

The declaration was expressed within the framework of the meeting of officials from English-speaking African countries, which brought together in Maputo staff from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Health, Interior, Industry and Commerce, Minerals and Energy.

Currently, refrigerators, freezers and air conditioners in use in the country work with gases R134a, R404A, R406A, R407c, R408A, R410A, which are considered destructive and harmful in the context of climate change.

As an alternative, African and regional governments will only allow the import of refrigerators, freezers and air conditioners that work with gases R290 and R744. In the industrial sector, R717 gas, which is considered climate-friendly, will be used.

Mozambique has 68 companies licensed to import gases for refrigeration and air conditioning equipment.

“In recent years, the country has imported around 400,000 freezers, more than 500,000 freezers and more than 100,000 air conditioners. We suggest that the speed taken in importing technologies is the same to prevent the costs of treating and destroying waste in cause,” said Massinga.

Patrick Salifa, representative of the United Nations Environment Program (NEP), urged the government to review the import regulations. “It is necessary to tell the public that this or that should not enter the country. We need to tell importers what type of equipment to buy when they go abroad,” Salifa said.

Source: AIM Moçambique