Florida requests methyl bromide exemption

Explaining the necessity for the CUE’s, the petition stated that, "while several promising leads have been developed, the current status of alternatives is such that efficacious and economically feasible alternatives do not exist, and this petition for continued use of methyl bromide under the critical use exemption provisions of the Montreal Protocol is necessary."

The CUE petitions, filed in September, were developed through the cooperative efforts of researchers, growers and support institutions for the Florida agriculture industry.

Methyl bromide is considered an ozone-depleting chemical. The 1999 Montreal Protocol requires that the chemical be phased out completely in industrialized nations by 2005.