Secretariats

The Multilateral Fund was established by a decision of the Second Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol (London, June 1990) and began its operation in 1991. The main objective of the Multilateral Fund is to assist developing country parties to the Montreal Protocol whose annual per capita consumption and production of ozone depleting substances (ODS) is less than 0.3 kg to comply with the control measures of the Protocol. Currently, 130 of the 175 Parties to the Montreal Protocol meet these criteria. They are referred to as Article 5 countries.

The Ozone Secretariat is the Secretariat for the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and for the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

The Secretariat functions in accordance with Article 7 of the Vienna Convention and Article 12 of the Montreal Protocol, which detail its duties. Its main duties include:

• Arranging for and servicing the Conference of the Parties, Meetings of the Parties, their Committees, Bureaux, Working Groups and Assessment Panels.
  
  
• Arranging for implemention of the decisions from these meetings.
  
  
• Monitoring the implementation of the Convention and the Protocol; Report to the meetings of the Parties and to the Implementation Committee.
  
  
• Representing the Convention and the Protocol in the relevant international bodies.
  
  
• Receiving and analyzing data and information from the Parties on the production and consumption of Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS).
  
  
• Providing information.