In a new report, entitled Under the Counter, the EIA describes how Chinese smugglers systematically evade restrictions in supplying CFCs to the black market.
In an undercover operation, EIA investigators posing as chemical dealers were offered 122 tonnes of illegal CFCs as well as guarantees of continued supply from a number of Chinese firms. These initial orders were equivalent to more than 12% of the entire quantity of CFCs available to China for all its export and for stockpiling in 2006.

The revelations come at a time when China, the largest producer of CFCs in the world, is to receive $39m in international funding in its efforts to cease CFC production in 2007 - three years ahead of the Montreal Protocol schedule.