The Executive Committee decided, at its Seventeenth Meeting, to take an annual consumption level of 360 tonnes as the cut-off point below which a country would be considered to be a low-ODS-consuming country for the purposes of determining the eligibility of projects for funding from the allocation reserved for such countries in accordance with the decision adopted by the Executive Committee at its Sixteenth Meeting (UNEP/OzL.Pro/ExCom/16/20 para. 32 (g) (iii).
Having considered the comments and recommendations of the Sub-Committee on Project Review on the classification of low-volume-consuming countries and, in particular, on whether the consumption of methyl bromide should be taken into account for the purposes of determining the status of a Party as a low-volume-consuming country, the Executive Committee decided at its Twenty seventh meeting that the consumption of methyl bromide reported under Article 7 of the Protocol should be excluded from the calculation of ODS consumption used in establishing the status of a country as a low-volume-consuming country.
(UNEP/OzL.Pro/ExCom/27/48, Decision 27/18, para. 43).
The Executive Committee requested that UNEP, in consultation with the other Implementing Agencies and the Secretariat, should prepare for submission to the Sub-Committee on Project Review at its Eighteenth Meeting a paper on innovative approaches to phasing out ozone-depleting substances in such countries.
(UNEP/OzL.Pro/ExCom/17/60, Decision 17/11 para. 19a and c).
Subsequently, the Nineteenth Meeting of the Executive Committee, having considered the report submitted by UNEP on innovative approaches for the phasing-out of ozone-depleting substances in low-ODS-consuming countries (UNEP/OzL.Pro/ExCom/19/53), decided:
(a) to take note of the report submitted by UNEP;
(b) to endorse the methodology in the report for approaches to institutional strengthening and country programme formulation in low- and very-low-volume-ODS-consuming countries and to encourage UNEP to implement the methodology on a trial basis;
(c) to request UNEP, in keeping with subparagraph (d) of decision VII/25 of the Seventh Meeting of the Parties, to continue its work for the preparation of an overall approach in addressing the needs of low-volume-ODS-consuming countries by, inter alia, drawing on the experience and ongoing activities of other organizations and to submit a report thereon to the Executive Committee at its Twentieth Meeting.
(UNEP/OzL.Pro/ExCom/19/64, Decision 19/30, para. 55).
The Seventh Meeting of the Parties requested the Executive Committee to provide specific support to low-volume-ODS-consuming countries (LVCs) by:
(a) allocating sufficient funds for projects in low-volume-ODS-consuming countries to further strengthen and expand awareness and training programmes, especially in the area of refrigerant management;
(b) supporting specialized assistance such as a workshop to establish regulatory and legislative measures required to facilitate the phase-out of ozone-depleting substances;
(c) allowing financing of eligible retrofitting projects, in sectors vital to LVC economies on a case-by-case basis where this can be shown to be the best approach;
(d) requesting the United Nations Environment Programme, due to its extensive experience with low-volume-ODS-consuming countries (LVCs), to take the lead in preparing an overall approach in addressing these needs;
(e) providing funds to low-volume-ODS-consuming countries, on a regional basis, to organize training workshops for their customs and other officers on the harmonized system and other systems to control and monitor consumption of ozone-depleting substances;
Approval of projects in low-volume-ODS-consuming countries and very low-volume-ODS-consuming countries should be based upon a more appropriate project-appraisal approach reflecting the particular circumstances encountered by the countries referred to above.
(UNEP/OzL.Pro.7/12 Decision VII/25).
The Twentieth Meeting of the Executive Committee decided:
(a) to take note with appreciation of the report on UNEP’s continued work on addressing the needs of low-volume-ODS-consuming countries;
(b) to note the statement of the representative of UNEP that most ODS consumption in LVCs was concentrated in the refrigeration sector, mainly in the servicing and maintenance sectors, and that phase-out of ODS could be achieved largely through non-investment projects;
(c) to request UNEP to ensure that adequate consultations were undertaken so that any policy formulated for LVCs fully reflected the needs of those countries;
(d) to endorse in principle the proposed modality for further action, including the development of refrigerant management plans, subject to a review of the operational details to be presented in the UNEP work programme;
(e) to encourage UNEP to continue exploring ways and means of addressing the needs of LVCs, bearing in mind the requirement to freeze consumption of controlled substances in Group I of Annex A to the Protocol in 1999;
(e) to request UNEP to consolidate the proposals contained in its report with a view to discussion and endorsement by the Executive Committee and, in doing so, to assess whether the funding allocated for projects in LVCs would be sufficient to enable compliance by those countries with the 1999 control measures.
(UNEP/OzL.Pro/ExCom/20/72, Decision 20/40 , para. 60).
(Supporting document: UNEP/OzL.Pro/ExCom/20/60).