Voluntary agreement on the reduction of chlorofluorocarbons by the aerosol industry

Summary of the initiative

Objective(s)
Replacement of aerosols by propellants which are less damaging for the ozone layer.

Description of the Initiative

    Sector

    Self/Co-Regulation Basic Act

    PRIVATE ACT
    Year
    1989
    Title of Act
    Voluntary agreement on the reduction of chlorofluorocarbons by the aerosol industry
    NON-LEGISLATIVE ACT
    Year
    1989
    Title of Act
    Commission Recommendation 89/349/EEC of 13 April 1989 on the reduction of chlorofluorocarbons by the aerosol industry, Official Journal L 144, 27/05/1989 P. 0056 - 0058.

    Geographical Coverage

    Global coverage
    Participating Countries
    Austria

    Description

    Problems that lead to the introduction of Self/Co-Regulation and the adoption of the Founding Act
    Depletion of ozone layer by emissions of CFCs used in the aerosol industry.
    Target Group(s)
    Chemical industry, producers of various aerosol applications (cosmetics, home care, paints, pharmaceuticals, etc.).
    Type of Instrument(s)
    Voluntary agreement.
    Level(s) at which private rules should be defined and applied
    Type of Financing
    Private (industry)
    Type of Monitoring
    Conduct an initial survey of compliance capacity of future regulateesConduct regular visits and spot checksInitiate complaints proceduresMaintain database of those bounded by the normsProduce regular reportsReceive complaints and verify if norms were breached or notReflexive dialogue with the - stakeholdersOther
    European Commissionyes
    National public authorityyesyes
    International public authorityyes
    Private regulator (code owner)yes
    Private independent party with a mandate (e.g. auditors)
    Self-appointed private parties (e.g. NGOs)
    Succinct description of the type of Monitoring
    The voluntary agreement operated in addition to regulatory action on the international level (the Montreal Protocol), Community legislation and action taken by some Member States at a time when an international agreement was still missing for these applications. All the parties had monitoring and reporting schemes in place, although necessarily incomplete because of the complexity of the problem and gaps in scientific knowledge.
    Type of Enforcement
    Faming, shaming and blamingJudicial sanctionsMembership suspension/exclusionPrivate finesOther
    Private Regulator
    Private independent party with a mandate (e.g. auditors)
    Court system
    Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) / Online dispute resolution (ODR)
    Succinct description of the type of Enforcement
    With the development of the Montreal Protocol the measures were replaced by legislation.

    Results of Commission Monitoring

    Scoring
    Monitoring periodicity / next evaluation
    The measures can be regarded as positive as improvements were achieved faster than by regulatory measures.
    Nevertheless, regulation was necessary to act against rogue players on the market, which could not be addressed by a voluntary agreement (Regulation (EC) No 2037/2000 of 29 June 2000).