USDA SEEKS TO EXPAND USE OF METHYL BROMIDE 'QUARANTINE EXEMPTION'

The Bush administration is proposing to expand the so-called "quarantine exemption" for the ozone-depleting pesticide methyl bromide to allow its use in domestic agriculture shipments under the Montreal Protocol. Until now, the exemption has only been used to allow the pesticide to be sprayed on international shipments of nursery plants and crops. The move comes as House Republicans and pesticide industry groups are pressing the administration to seek increased allowances for the pesticide under the protocol's "critical use exemption" ahead...