JAMAICA will next January begin to reduce the importation of an ozone-depleting substance found in some refrigerators and air-conditioning units.

Hydro-chlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) are ozone-depleting substances found in and used to service some refrigerators and air-conditioning units used in cars, buildings, homes, and offices.

The move to reduce their importation is being made having regard to the island's obligations under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

On June 7, the United Nations Development Programme component of the HCFC Phase Out Management Plan Implementation Project was launched at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston.

Presenters included Loreto Duffy-Mayers, project manager of the Caribbean Hotel Energy Efficiency Action (CHENACT) project; Vaughn Morris, director of Seal Sprayed Solutions, which will receive project funds to phase out the use of HCFC in the foam manufacturing sector; and Anderson Alves, regional officer with the United Nations Development Programme.

Activities under the project, according to information out of the National Environmental and Planning Agency (NEPA), will help Jamaica meet the first and second HCFC reduction targets, which are:

* the freeze in importation of HCFCs on January 1, 2013, at 2009 and 2010 average import levels; and

* a 10 per cent reduction in the island's baseline HCFC importation by January 1, 2013.

"The move will require importers within the automotive, refrigeration, and air-conditioning industries to import and use alternatives to HCFCs and equipment that contain the substance," said a release from NEPA. "Consumers will also be encouraged to purchase more "ozone and climate friendly" vehicles, refrigerators, and air-conditioning units."