Importing HFC without a licence is a breach of the Act and the maximum penalty for each contravention of unlicensed importation is $2,100,000. The AUS$500,000 fine for the importation of 5 tonnes of the fire suppressant HFC-227ea is said to be the largest of its kind ever issued to a fire protection company for the unlawful importation of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC). Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley said, department’s prosecution against the company commenced in July 2019 after an investigation into importing of bulk HFC without a controlled substances licence.
The company operated a fire-safety business that included the sale of fire extinguishment systems containing HFC-227ea. Following a civil prosecution from the Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment, the Federal Court of Australia, found ACN 089 171 415 Pty Ltd, formerly known as Fire Protection Technologies Pty Ltd, to be in contravention of section 13(1) of the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Act.
The aforementioned amount of HFC had the potential to create emissions equivalent to the annual emissions of 6600 cars or 2300 households. HFC-227ea was original non-ozone-depleting replacement for Halon 1301, but, due to its high GWP of 3,220, it was included in the list of controlled substances under Kigali amendment to the Montreal Protocol. The company was aware of their obligations but proceeded to import a significant quantity of HFC-227ea anyway. HFC-227ea is the fifth most potent of the 18 scheduled HFCs under the Act.
During investigation, department officers seized several one-tonne capacity cylinders containing HFC-227ea, an extinguishing agent, from company’s premises in Melbourne and Perth. It was presumed that the gas that they had contained was sold for use, or used by the company, in firefighting equipment.
