House GOP Wants Out of Pesticide Treaty

WASHINGTON -- House Republicans want to make sure American farmers can continue using methyl bromide as a pesticide on crops, despite a nearly two-decade-old international environmental treaty.

At a hearing Wednesday, they promoted a bill that would let the United States ignore the treaty's goal for a ban in 2005 on methyl bromide, a popular killer of insects, weeds, and diseases.

"It's simply not fair to put pressure on our farmers to cut off their use methyl bromide before the farmers in developing countries," said Rep. Charlie Norwood, R-Georgia.

A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee is considering a bill sponsored by Rep. George Radanovich, R-California, to allow U.S. production of methyl bromide to continue even if other countries don't agree.

"The bottom line is we need to preserve its use until the alternatives are there," Radanovich said in an interview during a break in the hearing.

The United States is among nearly 200 countries that have signed the United Nations' 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Although methyl bromide is on a list of substances regulated by the treaty, the Bush administration has twice sought exemptions.

House Democrats oppose the Radanovich measure and the Bush administration's requests for exemptions from the ban.

"The Bush administration is again undermining a successful international treaty," said Rep. Lois Capps, D-California.

Since 1991, U.S. growers have cut use of the pesticide in farming, food processing, and storage by at least 70 percent, mostly by diluting it with other pest-control compounds.

The government also has spent at least $150 million searching for alternatives, particularly for tomatoes in Florida and strawberries in California, and sped up approval for pesticides that could serve as substitutes.

Bush administration officials told the subcommittee the exemptions from the treaty are needed to avoid disrupting agricultural markets. Twelve other countries also sought exemptions.

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