Result of Service

– Verification report of HCFC consumption in Lao PDR for the years 2020-2023.
– Verification report of HCFC consumption in Brunei Darussalam for the years 2020-2023.

Work Location

Home-based

Expected duration

8 months

Duties and Responsibilities

Brunei Darussalam through the Department of Environment, Park and Recreation, Ministry of Development and Lao PDR through the Department of Climate Change, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment received grant from the Multilateral Fund (MLF) to implement a multi-year project namely “HCFC Phase-out Management Plan (HPMP) Stage II”. The HPMP Stage II aims to assist Brunei Darussalam and Lao PDR to phase out consumption of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), a group of ozone depleting substances controlled under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer in accordance with obligations under the Montreal Protocol. To receive funds for the implementation of HPMP Stage II, the Government of Brunei Darussalam and Lao PDR signed the Agreement for the reduction in consumption of HCFCs (Agreement) with the Executive Committee (ExCom). According to the Agreement, the Government of Brunei Darussalam and Lao PDR committed to meet the annual consumption limits of the Substances as set out in row 1.2 of Appendix 2-A (“The Targets and Funding”) during the implementation of HPMP Stage II.

The ExCom approved funding for conducting verification of national HCFC consumption as part of the activities for the implementation of HPMP Stage II. This approved project is for UNEP to implement, and is separate from the HPMP approval with the following conditions:

o Lao PDR – At the 88th Meeting of the ExCom through its intersessional session , with a condition that the verification report should be submitted at least 10 weeks prior to the applicable Executive Committee meeting where the next funding tranche for its HPMP is being sought

o Brunei Darussalam – At the 91st Meeting of the ExCom with a condition that the verification report should be submitted at least 10 weeks prior to the applicable Executive Committee meeting where the next funding tranche for its HPMP is being sought.

Overall responsibility of the consultant is to conduct verification and prepare a 2020-2023 verification report on HCFC consumption in Lao PDR and Brunei Darussalam based on the above review following the Executive Committee’s Guidelines for the Verification of National HCFC Consumption Targets of Multi-year Agreements. Specific responsibilities are as follows:

(i) Work plan for conducting verification of HCFC consumption

In close consultation with UNEP and the NOU of Brunei Darussalam and Lao PDR, the consultant shall prepare the draft work plan including (i) timeline for conducting verification and (ii) tasks and roles and responsibilities of each concerned stakeholders in the verification process, as well as support/cooperation will be required from various stakeholders.

The consultant shall liaise with the NOU and national stakeholders to discuss (i) the draft work plan, (ii) verification procedures and proposed timeline for conducting verification, (iii) roles and responsibility of each stakeholder during verification especially the required information/data needed to be provided for the verification.

During the assignment, the consultant shall conduct verification following the ExCom’s Guidelines for the Verification of National HCFC Consumption Targets of Multi-year Agreements.

(ii) Review the national legislation, policies and procedures on ODS import and export and to conduct an assessment of the existing licensing and quota system to control HCFC import and export

The consultant shall review national legislation, policies and procedures on ODS imports/exports, such as
o Channel of communication between NOU, the Customs Department and importers;
o Authorized list of importers/exporters and, where available, distributors;
o Conditions of issuing licenses;
o Administrative procedures and documentation;
o System of monitoring and reporting on exports of ODS;
o Sanctions or penalties to be imposed on violation of legal regulation;
o Mechanisms and capacity for prosecution and Harmonized Tariff Nomenclature and Coding System in order to identify ODS and ODS mixtures;
o Procedures to be applied in case of suspicious shipments; and
o Sampling or other identification methods used.

Under this task, the consultant shall
o Describe and summarize regulations related to the control, restriction or ban on the import of ODS and ODS-based equipment e.g. authority enforcing the regulation and how the regulation is enforced.
o Describe and summarize the process of issuing licenses: Issues to be addressed are e.g. how is the quota for a given year set; who can apply for a quota; who is responsible for granting or rejecting the application; what are the criteria to make such a decision; how is the decision communicated to the applicant and other relevant stakeholders; is the process legally defined in a regulation. It should clarify whether there is only one or several authorities who can issue licenses. It should be clear whether there is a legal basis to refuse licenses to ineligible applicants or to eligible applicants once the quota is exhausted;
o Describe and summarize the information on administrative procedures, i.e. whether Harmonized Tariff Nomenclature and Coding System can differentiate between the different HCFCs (pure and contained in blends) and HCFC-141b contained in imported pre-blended polyols where applicable. It should also verify whether customs have been provided with a detailed list of HCFCs, HCFC blends and trade names, and whether this list is available and used at the points of entry; and
o Conduct an assessment of the quota, licensing, import/export control and monitoring and reporting system. This should cover e.g. whether current customs officers at the relevant ports of entry possess the necessary information to enact the controls, whether importers do not ship consignments to the country without having already obtained an import license and similar issues. Concerning the HCFC-141b contained in pre-blended polyols, it should verify whether customs officers have the capacity to identify these imports, and whether they were trained to do so (training, reporting lines). The verification should clarify whether problems like handling a typical event (use of still-valid previous-year licenses, imports deemed to take place at year-end but actually taken place in a new year) are covered by the regulatory set-up in the country.

(iii) Review official statistics on import and export maintained by different sources and to analyse and compare such the statistics

The consultant shall review official statistics and original data on imports/export maintained by the NOU, the Customs Department, representative samples of reports from importers/exporters and, where available, of distributors. The consultant shall conduct interviews, analysis and cross check various data collected from different sources comprising of:
o Quotas issued by authority versus actual quotas used.
o The actual amount of HCFCs imported/exported versus license issued to importer/exporter by shipment and by importer/exporter (the results can be given in a summary if required by stakeholders, but a case-by-case comparison needs to be carried out as a basis). This should be verified from data received from the NOU, the Customs Department and importers.
o The actual import and export of HCFCs verified with the reported data in both the country programme and Article 7 data reports (to the degree relevant at the time of the verification), as well as with the consumption targets specified in Appendix 2-A of the Agreement.
o Discrepancies, where found, should be investigated and the reason for the discrepancy should be provided in the report. The report should list perceived shortcomings and suggest improvements to the system.

The consultant shall verify whether HCFCs not listed in Appendix 1-A are not being imported, or quantify the imports, if any, of HCFCs not listed.

(iv) Assessment of implementation of recommendation from previous HCFC verification report

The verification reports for Brunei Darussalam (2013-2017) and Lao PDR (2013-2014 and 2015-2019) previously submitted to the ExCom provided recommendations to strengthen the implementation and enforcement of quota, licensing, monitoring and reporting system. The consultant shall review actions carried out by the Government of Brunei Darussalam and the Government of Lao PDR and assess whether these actions were sufficient to address these recommendations and include the consultant’s own assessment in the verification report of each country.

(v) Preparation and submission of draft HCFC verification report

The consultant shall prepare and submit the draft verification report for year 2020-2022 (Lao PDR) and year 2020-2022 (Brunei Darussalam) to UNEP. UNEP will then transmit the draft to the NOU of each country for their review and observations.

The verification report must be produced in English and shall:
o Describe the detailed steps and procedures taken to conduct the verification;
o Summarize all aspects of national legislation and policies regarding licensing system, process of issuing licenses, information on administrative procedures and assessment of the licensing, quota, import control and monitoring system including those designed to ensure achievement of the consumption targets in the Agreement.
o Cross-check data collected from different sources, e.g., amounts reported by importers, NOU and the Customs Department. Discrepancies, where found, should be investigated and the reasons for which should be provided in the report.
o Describe issues and problems encountered while implementing the current import/export licensing in the country (e.g. deviations between data from different sources, showing transfer errors, or establishing that reporting was referring to licensed amounts where actual imports should have been reported, among others). The report should also suggest how these issues and problems could be addressed.
o Assess implementation of recommendations from the previous verification of HCFC consumption report.
o Provide detailed data demonstrating and confirming whether the consumption target in the Agreement was achieved, whether there is existence of an operational licensing and quota system for HCFC imports and exports and whether the system is capable to ensure the country’s compliance with the targets as set out in the Agreement between each country and the ExCom.

(vi) Finalization and submission of HCFC verification report

After receiving comments from UNEP and observations from the NOUs, the consultant shall review and, based on his/her professional judgment, finalize the verification report for years 2020-2022 (Lao PDR) and years 2020-2022 (Brunei Darussalam). The consultant shall submit the revised report Brunei Darussalam and Lao PDR to UNEP, which will be transmitted to the NOU of each country for acknowledgement.

Once 2023 verification is completed, the consultant shall include findings from verification of the 2023 HCFC consumption into the 2020-2022 verification reports that have been agreed earlier to be combined into one report for each country for the years 2020-2023. The combined reports for Brunei Darussalam and Lao PDR shall be reviewed by UNEP and the respective NOU.

After receiving comments from UNEP and observations from the NOU, the consultant shall finalize the combined 2020-2023 reports and shall submit the final reports to UNEP, which will be transmitted to the NOU of Brunei Darussalam and Lao PDR respectively for acknowledgement.

(vii) Support UNEP in the provision of information as requested from the Montreal Protocol Multilateral Fund (MLF) Secretariat

For Lao PDR verification of HCFC consumption, the consultant will provide UNEP with timely clarification and responses to issues and questions raised by the Multilateral Fund Secretariat during its review, and make necessary changes to the report following discussion and agreement with the Multilateral Fund Secretariat.

Qualifications/special skills

Bachelor’s Degree in the area of accounting, science, engineering, environmental policy or other related qualifications required for conducting verification. Other academic qualifications in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the bachelor’s degree.
– At least 5 year of working experience related to accounting, engineering, scientific, or environment policy background.
– Prior experience in working with governments in Asia and the Pacific region on data collection and analysis or auditing/verification.
– Prior working experience with international organizations, and/or inter-governmental organization at the global, regional and national level and experience in Montreal Protocol or previous successfully implemented country projects (Terminal Phase-out Management Plan (TPMP), Institutional Strengthening Project (IS) and HCFC Phase-out Management Plan (HPMP), Ozone Depleting Substance (ODS) Alternatives Survey, Kigali HFC Implementation Plan (KIP) is desirable.
– Demonstrated skills in data analysis, developing reports, stakeholder consultations at regional/national level is required.
– Knowledge of the licensing and quota system to control trade of controlled substances under the Montreal Protocol is highly desirable.

Languages

Fluency in written and spoken English is required.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.