With the completion of the grace period granted on signing of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, developing countries are set to begin, on 1 July 1999, a freeze on production and consumption of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), prior to a gradual reduction and final phase-out in the year 2010. The freeze on other substances, namely halons and methyl choloroform, will follow shortly.