Key changes
The 2002 Farm Act adds a provision directing the Secretary of Agriculture to determine whether to authorize methyl bromide treatments required by State, local, or tribal authorities to prevent the introduction, establishment, or spread of plant pests or noxious weeds as official controls or requirements.

Economic implications
New provisions for use of methyl bromide within the Research Title deal with exemptions from phasing out methyl bromide use. The use of methyl bromide, a fumigant, is being phased out worldwide under the Montreal Protocol and in the United States under the Clean Air Act. However, use for quarantine and preshipment treatments, which are identified by a national authority, is exempt from the phaseout.

It was unclear under the Montreal Protocol whether methyl bromide treatments required by State, local, or tribal authorities to prevent the introduction, establishment, or spread of plant pests or noxious weeds would be included in the exemption. The 2002 Farm Act empowers the Secretary to authorize methyl bromide treatments required by State, local, or tribal authorities as official controls or requirements, which might exempt them from the methyl bromide phaseout under the Montreal Protocol and Clean Air Act. The agricultural nursery industry sought this change because some States, such as California, and other authorities require treatments to prevent the spread of pests through nursery stock.

For more information...

• Agricultural Chemicals and Production Technology Briefing Room: Q&A: What are the implications of the methyl bromide phase-out?
• Economic Implications of the Methyl Bromide Phase-out—This report provides an overview of the issues surrounding phase-out of methyly bromide under the Montreal Protocol.