Millers Lobby for Methyl Bromide Exemption

WASHINGTON - Sep 23/02 - SNS -- The North American Millers' Association (NAMA) has presented an application to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to exempt NAMA members from a ban on methyl bromide (MB) fumigant.

The NAMA exemption application calculated the cost of a MB ban to the grain milling industry at more than $60 million annually. The largest component of the impact was from lost revenues as a result of the additional downtime required to sanitize mills with potential alternatives, which are slower acting.

"Mill cleanliness is expected by consumers and required by FDA regulations," said NAMA chairman Bernard J. Rothwell III. "NAMA members are committed to meeting, and exceeding, those expectations. MB is the best tool we have for doing that."

U.S. millers buy Canadian wheat for specific milling or baking properties and to supplement the U.S. crop. The U.S. durum crop was insufficient to meet demand in 15 out of the last 15 years. The hard red spring wheat crop was insufficient in 12 of the last 15 years. According to the North Dakota Wheat Commission's own quality reports, less than one-half of the crop each year meets the milling quality grades of U.S. Number 1 or 2.

The subscriber version of the article is available by Clicking here