RAPID REDUCTIONS IN METHYL BROMIDE USE ARE TECHNOLOGICALLY FEASIBLE

Technical analyses have demonstrated that methyl bromide consumption can readily be reduced by more than (well over) 50% within two years. There exists a variety of approaches by which methyl bromide users or regulators can achieve substantial and rapid reductions. Some of the following techniques can be combined for greater reductions:

• Soil pest monitoring to determine whether (or not) soil needs to be treated.

• Voluntary or official limits on the frequency of methyl bromide treatments. Italy, for example, has restricted methyl bromide soil treatments to one year in two.

• Reducing permitted doses of methyl bromide by improving current practices (by adjusting current limits given on methyl bromide product labels, or by government pesticide authorities using their existing powers to adjust requirements on conditions of methyl bromide use).

• Using permits or requirements to justify each fumigation - in effect a prescription to use methyl bromide (analogous to vets giving prescriptions for animal pharmaceutical products on farms).

• Combining methyl bromide with another treatment, in order to reduce methyl bromide doses, e.g. combining with another fumigant, solarisation, or in some cases a biological control

• Reducing methyl bromide doses by using VIF or less permeable sheets

• Using low-dose injection techniques and strip treatments, in regions that do not normally do so. This includes much of the world outside of North America ( i.e. EU, Africa, Asia, China, parts of South America) .
  The sharing of expertise in the use of alternatives to methyl bromide between regions with similar conditions could result in significant rapid reductions in global consumption. Such technological exchange needs to be encouraged and financially supported by the Multilateral Fund.¹⁷

¹⁷ Information source: Prospect C&S Consultants 1997. Methyl Bromide Background Report. May 1997. Provision of Services with Regards to the Technical Aspects of the Implementation of EC Legislation on Ozone Depleting Substances. B7-8110/95/000178/MAR/D4. Technical report prepared for DGXI of the Commission of the European Communities. [return]