Concern rises over fake refrigerants in region

Customers are urged to source refrigerant gas products from authorised distributors only.

Instances of damage caused to air-con components by the use of counterfeit refrigerant gases has spurred DuPont to express its concern. This follows a regional assessment by senior representatives finding the practice to be prevalent in the Middle East.

Frequently branded or packaged to resemble leading brands such as Freon and Suva from DuPont, analysis of the counterfeit refrigerants has show them to contain dangerous and flammable blends of various components.

“Such mixtures are harmful in every sense of the word,” explained Pascal Faidy, business manager at DuPont Fluorochemicals Refrigerants for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

In order to avoid purchasing counterfeit or illegitimate products, DuPont urges its customers to only source refrigerant gas products from authorised distributors in the region. Moreover, the company is diligently policing and actively challenging the unauthorised use and counterfeiting of its refrigerant gases to ensure its customers receive products of legitimate quality.

“They are not only flammable and thus dangerous for those working directly with the refrigerant, but they contain ozone-depleting substances such as R12, and therefore do not support the phase-out of CFCs, the deadline for which is 2009 in the Middle East.

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With regard to those products packaged to resemble genuine branded products, it is a blatant case of trade name abuse and counterfeiting,” warned Faidy.

Many of the counterfeit refrigerants are believed to emanate from certain Asian countries, and are destined for the Middle East due to the region’s large-scale requirements for R22 and R134a for use in air-conditioning systems.

DuPont believes its important role in the region in the refrigerants domain enables it to facilitate co-operation between local authorities on the prohibition of illegal imports, and to provide practical advice on the identification of counterfeiting products. The company has formed a specific local taskforce for this role.

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