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Methyl bromide is an odorless and colorless
toxic gas that is used as a broad-spectrum pesticide. It is used
as a fumigant to control a variety of pests such as insects and
nematodes.
On Jan. 2, the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) issued its final rule regarding methyl bromide, 40
CFR Part 82 "Protection of Stratospheric Ozone: Process for
Exempting Quarantine and Pre-shipment Applications of Methyl
Bromide" in the Federal Register (Vol. 68, No. 1, pp.
237-254).
The final rule created an exemption from the
consumption and production phase-out for methyl bromide that is
used for quarantine and pre-shipment (QPS).
An example of quarantine application of
methyl bromide is the fumigation of wood pallets that can be
subject to infestation by a specific, and officially recognized,
quarantine pest when the fumigation is conducted before
transport of the pallet to meet official quarantine
requirements.
The purpose of quarantine fumigation is to
prevent the introduction of specific quarantine pests (i.e.
pinewood nematode) into a defined geographical area, such as an
importing country.
An example of pre-shipment use of methyl
bromide is the application to wood boxes immediately before
shipment because of official phytosanitary requirements of the
destination country.
Pre-shipment applications are those
non-quarantine applications that take place within 21 days prior
to export to meet official requirements.
The rule establishes exemptions that allow
unrestricted use of methyl bromide fumigation for treatment of
wood packaging materials, one of only two measures that is
allowed under the IPPC standard.
The use of methyl bromide for QPS will
continue until the rule is amended or terminated.
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