DUSHANBE, April 2, 2009, Asia-Plus -- An April 1 sitting of the fifth session of the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament) ratified an agreement between the CIS state on cooperation to counter the theft and trafficking in cultural property.

The lower chamber also gave consent to Tajikistan’s joining to the Copenhagen Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer, the Vienna Convention for Protection of the Ozone Layer, as well as the Montreal Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer and the Beijing Amendment.  

The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of a number of substances believed to be responsible for ozone depletion.  The treaty was opened for signature on September 16, 1987 and entered into force on January 1, 1989.  Since then, it has undergone seven revisions, in 1990 (London), 1991 (Nairobi), 1992 (Copenhagen), 1993 (Bangkok ), 1995 (Vienna), 1997 (Montreal), and 1999 (Beijing).  It is believed that if the international agreement is adhered to, the ozone layer is expected to recover by 2050.