| A CRIME AGAINST NATURE | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Halon Trade - The US Halon Market
Until the beginning of 1997 imports of halon 1301 into the lucrative US market were limited by the imposition of a tax based on ODP, resulting in the highest tax of US$60 per pound for halon 1301. This was revoked in January 1997 after a number of companies raised concerns about the ability of domestic supplies to meet essential use requirements. At a stroke the dynamics of the US halon 1301 market were drastically altered, and a flood of imports took place during 1997 which dramatically undermined domestic reclamation operations. The destination of material reclaimed by BIR in Norway is illustrative of the general trend - in 1996 the facility reclaimed 70 tonnes of halon 1301, sending 56 tonnes to the UK, and 14 tonnes to the US. In 1997 the total processed amount of 84 tonnes was all sent to the US market. Bureau of Census statistics, which group all three halons together, show a total import of over 670 tonnes of halons into the US during 1997. Source countries included: 235 tonnes from China, 68 tonnes from Germany, 70 tonnes from Italy, 116 tonnes from Norway, 76 tonnes from the UK, and 84 tonnes from Canada. The fact that the vast majority of this material was 1301 is confirmed by the granting of import petitions for over 675 tonnes of halon 1301 by the US Environmental Protection Agency during 1997. By 1998 it appears that the US market demand for halon 1301 has been satiated following the vast influx which took place the previous year. During the first half of 1998 only 50 tonnes of halons had been imported into the US, with half coming from Canada, and the rest from Norway, the UK and Bermuda. All the halon 1301 imported during 1997 was permitted on the grounds that the material was used and not virgin. Extensive investigations by EIA have revealed information which raises serious doubts about the true nature of many of these imports, and reveals inconsistencies in the information supplied by several of the firms involved. Although 70 tonnes of halons were allowed into the US from Italy during 1997, such shipments contravene the stated policy of the Italian government. According to the Italian environment ministry: "Our legislation does not allow to export any kind of halon (recycled or virgin) except to those countries categorised as operating under Article 5 paragraph 1 of the Montreal Protocol." Halons shipped from Germany are tainted by the fraud perpetrated by the Frankfurt-based firm Taifun. This company illegally sold over 300 tonnes of virgin Chinese halons, some of which were falsely-labelled as HFC227. By claiming that the halon 1301 was ex-NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) stock, Taifun was able to sell the material to customers in the UK, France and the US. When the fraud was uncovered in July 1997 and the director of Taifun arrested, supplies of German halon 1301 quickly dried-up. FRC International, based in Holland, Ohio, successfully petitioned the EPA to bring in 48 tonnes of Taifun's halon 1301, after being told it was used material from the NATO stockpile. FRC was supplied with documents stating that the material was reclaimed by Chemical Reverser Betriebs GmbH, currently under investigation by the German authorities for its part in the Taifun fraud. Interrogation of the Port Import Export Research Database reveals further shipments of halons from Germany to the US during 1997. In April 1997 a consignment of 18 tonnes of 1301 was shipped from Bremerhaven in Germany to Baltimore in the US. Records show the container was destined for a halon broker based on the East coast. A further shipment of 15 tonnes of halon 1301 arrived in New York from Bremerhaven in early May 1997, destined for the same broker. The source for all the virgin halon 1301 illegally distributed by Taifun was the Chinese company TT International, based in the northern port of Dalian. As some of the material was falsely-labelled at source as HFC227, the Chinese supplier was clearly party to the fraud. Yet earlier this year TT International was accepted for membership of the Halon Alternatives Research Corporation, a US- industry body. |
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