Exemptions from Global Methyl Bromide Ban Under Consideration

MONTREAL, Quebec, Canada, March 23, 2004 (ENS) - A three day meeting of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer will consider granting exemptions to 13 developed countries so that they can use the pesticide methyl bromide for certain critical uses after its phaseout date of January 1, 2005. The product controls many soil insects, diseases, nematodes, and weeds, as well as insects and other organisms present in stored or shipped commodities and storage, shipping, and processing facilities.

"Granting limited exemptions to the protocol's increasingly strict controls will ensure that the transition to ozone-friendly solutions does not cause farmers and other users of methyl bromide undue economic pain," said Klaus Toepfer, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), under whose auspices the Protocol was adopted in 1987.

Like halons and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which were phased out by developed countries in 1994 and 1996, respectively, methyl bromide damages the stratospheric ozone layer. This protective shield safeguards human health and the environment from the sun's ultraviolet rays. Methyl bromide is also highly toxic to human beings.

Methyl bromide is a gas used to fumigate soil before planting many fruit and vegetable crops, for post-harvest storage and facility fumigation, and for government required quarantine treatments. (Photo courtesy USDA)

Risks include more melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers, more eye cataracts, weakened immune systems, reduced plant yields, damage to ocean ecosystems and reduced fishing yields, adverse effects on animals, and more damage to plastics.

The ozone layer is expected to stabilize and return to health in about 50 years but only if the Montreal Protocol's phaseout schedules are fully respected.

According to the agreed phaseout schedule, developed countries reduced methyl bromide by 70 percent by 2003, 50 percent by 2001 and 25 percent by 1999.

For developing countries the schedule started with a 2002 freeze (at average 1995-98 levels) and continues with reductions of 20 percent by 2005 and 100 percent by 2015.

The Montreal Protocol allows governments to apply for exemptions when there are no technically or economically feasible alternatives or for health or safety reasons. For example, specific essential use exemptions have been granted under the Protocol so that developed countries can still use CFCs in metered dose inhalers for the treatment of asthma and other chronic respiratory diseases.

The exemptions for methyl bromide were first assessed by the UNEP Technology and Economics Assessment Panel last year. At that time the TEAP noted that the requested exemptions would total a relatively large amount. The Parties to the Protocol met in Nairobi last November to consider the issue but were unable to finalize a list of agreed exemptions.

The nominations for exemptions from the 13 countries total some 17,000 metric tons. Of this amount, the TEAP is recommending that 12,900 tons be approved.

This compares with a total world consumption in 2002 of 15,073 tons, about half of which occurred in the developed countries. In 1997, total world consumption was 37,640 tons, of which 75 percent in the developed countries. This important decline reflects the fact that both developed and developing countries have found alternatives for many uses of methyl bromide.

The countries that requested exemptions are Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Greece, Italy, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, the UK and the United States, which is instead demanding an increase in its methyl bromide limit.

Ranchers in California set aside portions of their farms for collaborative studies on methyl bromide alternatives for strawberries. Here two growers evaluate biologically based methods for weed and disease control at Rod Koda's ranch. (Photo by Scott Bauer courtesy USDA)

"Governments can minimize the need for exemptions through regulatory and economic incentives that reward the development and adoption of alternatives, many of which have already been identified. This is vital to maintaining the integrity of the Montreal Protocol - one of the truly great success stories of international cooperation," Toepfer said.

In the United States, methyl bromide is used to some extent on more than 100 crops, but nearly 80 percent of preplant methyl bromide soil fumigation goes to strawberries, tomatoes, ornamentals and nursery crops, and peppers.

The Bush administration's proposal to allow the continued use of methyl bromide will increase the risk of cancer, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.

"This attack on the ozone layer will put more people at risk of cancer," says David Doniger, policy director of NRDC's Climate Center. "It also punishes the responsible growers who have invested time and money into adopting safer alternatives."

California's San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center has a commodity protection and quarantine branch where researchers are developing chemical methods as alternatives to methyl bromide.

In a 2003 justification statement to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the center explained that chemical alternatives are necessary because, "The potential loss of methyl bromide (MB) will be devastating to the postharvest agricultural industry."

Since most export schedules which allow the United States to ship agricultural products to many foreign countries are based on the use of methyl bromide, "the loss of MB will cost the industry several hundred million dollars if suitable alternatives are not found," the center said.

Methyl bromide is preferred because it is highly toxic to pests and acts quickly as compared to other fumigants. "Fast action is required for perishable commodities," the center said. "Loss of export markets to the fresh fruit and nut industry and to the growers would put many out of business and cause a shift in agricultural planting patterns."

Other alternatives being explored include integrated strategies that involve host-plant resistance, biological control, and alternative chemicals for control of diseases, nematodes, and insects of strawberries, grapes, tree fruits, and vegetables. For soil treatment researchers are experimenting with solarization, flooding, or heating to control pests, weeds, and pathogens in vegetables.

This week's meeting of the First Extraordinary Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol will take place in Montreal from tomorrow through Friday.