1. Critical Use Nomination: Interim Recommendations MBTOC Cochairs :  Mohamed Besri  Michelle Marcotte  Marta Pizano  Ian Porter 31st OEWG - Montreal Montreal Protocol, OEWG-31, 1-5 August, Montreal

2. Trends in Total Amount (t) of MB Approved or Newly Nominated for Critical Uses (2005 – 2013) Overall, CUNs continue to fall. The EC, Israel, New Zealand and Switzerland have phased out for controlled uses. Japan has ceased all soil CUNs. tonnes

3. Trends in Total MB (tonnes*) Exempted (CUE) and Nominated (CUN) Amounts by Party *Numbers rounded to nearest tonne

4. Adjustments to CUE Amounts - Consideration of Stocks (Dec IX/6 1,bii) MB stocks (t) reported at end of: 20052010 Australia0 0 Canada3.7 3.4 EC121.0 - Israel0- Japan48.1 6.3 New Zealand2.8 - USA10,417.01,803.0 Total10,592.71,812.7 -MBTOC CUE recommendations not adjusted to account for stocks -Stocks reported by USA in 2010 are over twice the 2013 US nomination of 692 t.

5. MBTOC Soils 31 st OEWG - Montreal

6. MB Preplant Soil Use - 2011 CUNs 13 CUNs submitted – down from 27 in previous round. Only 3 Parties (Australia, Canada, USA) continue to submit nominations A nomination for research by USA for 2012 and 2013. All other nominations were for 2013. Canada’s nomination for strawberry runners in 2013 was greater than the nomination in 2012. Australia’s nomination for strawberry runners has been similar for the last 5 years

7. Preplant Soil CUNs (tonnes) Submitted in 2011 for 2012 and 2013 Preplant Uses 2012 2013 * USAAusCanUSA Cucurbits11.9 # Eggplant 1.4 # Nurseries (fruit, nut and flower) 0.5 Orchard replant 6.2 Ornamentals (open field)48.2 Peppers 5.7 # Strawberry fruit531.7 Strawberry runners29.8 5.6 3.7 Tomatoes 10.7 # Research 6.1 # 6.2 # # - USG has notified reductions Nominations rounded to nearest 0.1 tonnes

8. Revised CUNs by USG for 2012 and 2013 SectorOriginal CUN *Revised CUN Cucurbits11.8993.886 Pepper 5.6735.605 Nursery 0.5410.476 Tomato10.7419.108 Research 2012 6.1112.417 Research 2013 6.2032.387 * April 2011 No change for eggplants, orchards replant, ornamentals and strawberry runners

9. CUN11 Recommendations for Preplant Soil Use by Party (t) Country CUNInterim Recommendation * 2012201320122013 Australia30 Canada65 USA Sectors * 620542 USA Research** 6.16.2 Unable * Recommendations are as shown in the May 2011 Progress Report

10. Outcome of CUN 2011 Interim Assessment for soil use for 2011/2012 (tonnes) Total Quantity Approved in CUN10 for 2012 1193 New Quantity Nominated for 2012 Interim Recommendation 6 Unable Quantity Nominated for 2013 Interim Recommendation Unable to recommend Not Recommended 662 577 78 7 (*Figures rounded to nearest tonne)

11. MB Preplant Soil Use: Issues and Progress in CUN 2011 Australia (29.760 t). Some adoption of substrates for early generation crops has been accepted. Future reductions in MB use are assumed to rely on registration of MI/Pic. Recommended in full. Canada (5.596 t). Voluntary dose reduction accepted. Pic (100%) being considered, but not registered. Recommended 93% (or 5.261 t) US made a significant reduction in total amount nominated for soil uses in 2013 compared to the 2012 CUE recommended last year (36%). Recommended 87%

12. CUNs from 3 sectors (nurseries, orchard replant, strawberry runners) were recommended in full, and 5 (eggplants, cucurbits, pepper, tomatoes, strawberry fruit) are still pending review in light of recent information provided by the Party. The US ornamental nomination was reduced by 15 to 25% depending on the region, as MI/Pic, steam, substrates were considered feasible. The strawberry fruit sector (81% of the USG request) was partly recommended. MB Preplant Soil Use: Issues and Progress in US CUNs 2011

13. Requests by the US - July 15 th, 2011 At the MBTOC meeting in Antalya in March 2011, the US advised that it needed time to gather data to support requests for 4 CUNs. In response on 15 th July, the US: –Reduced the CUN amounts for 4 nominations for 2013 – eggplant, cucurbits, peppers and tomatoes. –Reported this would be the last CUN for the 4 sectors above –Provided new economic information to support CUNs, which needs further review by MBTOC –Requested that CUNs for ornamentals be reassessed and the Californian amount reinstated. –Requested adoption of majority position for the strawberry CUN Information yet to be assessed by MBTOC

14. MB Use for Strawberry Runners Belgium, France, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, Spain have phased out this use. Australia and Canada apply for CUNs. Over 400 tonnes of MB is exempted under QPS regulations in the USA.

15. Strawberry Fruit Progress (CUE) (2005 -2013) US is the only remaining Party nominating for this sector owing to regulations which affect use of alternatives (e.g. buffer zones, rate restrictions, township caps).

16. Consensus Issues 3 Minority Reports US strawberry fruit CUN (validate critical area) US vegetable assessments (x4) (‘unable’ instead of ‘recommend’) Canadian strawberry runners CUN (appropriate research effort) 1 Added Report US strawberry fruit CUN (recommend amount)

17. Other Issues Most remaining CUNS do not use barrier films and the resultant dose reduction and emission reduction are not achieved. Registration of an alternative for a small, specific use is economically impractical. The need for alternatives to satisfy Nursery Certification remains a key issue for replacement of MB in the remaining CUNs.

18. US Research Sector – Soils and SC Applications from the US for 2012 and 2013 MB needed as a reference standard for evaluating alternatives for CUN and QPS. Owing to insufficient detail most were considered ‘unable to assess’ (except for pork sector in 2012) On the 15 th July the US revised the nominated amounts from 7.445 t to 2.576 t for 2012 and from 7.537 t to 2.546 t for 2013. Information not yet assessed

19. MBTOC Structures and Commodities Interim CUN Recommendations 31st OEWG - Montreal

20. 2011 CUNs Structures (2 CUNs) Flour mills and cereal processing (Canada and US) Research (1 CUN) (US) Multiple aspects – one for cured pork – one for other QPS and postharvest research, others = soils Commodities (4 CUNs) Chestnuts (Japan) Dry cure pork in storages (US) Dried fruit, walnuts and dates (US) Rice (Australia)

21. Interim Recommendations for Postharvest CUNs for 2013 Country and Sector (tonnes) Australia. Packaged rice [2.374] Canada. Mills [7.848] Japan. Fresh Chestnuts[3.317] USA 1. Commodities 2. Mills and Food Processing Structures 3. Cured Pork 2013 4. Research in Cured Pork Alternatives 2012 5. QPS and postharvest Research 2012, 2013 [0.822] [25.334] [Unable] [0.45 [Unable] TOTAL [39.74]

23. 2011 SC CUN Summary -1 Australia rice 2013; Nominated 2.374 tonnes. Recommended. For use on packaged rice. This represents ~35% decrease of the amount of MB granted by the Parties for this use for 2012. This surpasses Australia’s phase-out plan (-25%/yr). Rain in growing regions expected to increase 2011 harvests. Australia will stop using CUN MB in 2014 Canada flour mills 2013; Nominated 7.8 tonnes. Recommended. This is ~29% decrease of the amount granted by the Parties for 2012. The CUN is only sufficient for a single treatment of 7-8 of the 17- 18 mills in the application.

24. 2011 SC CUN Summary - 2 Japan chestnuts 2013; Nominated 3.317 tonnes. Recommended. This is a 5% reduction of the amount of MB granted by the Party for this use in 2012. The registrant of methyl iodide (MI) requires more stringent safety controls and modern application methods for MI than are required for MB. As a result, improvements to fumigation chambers and farmer training programs were required. Thus, there have been delays in commercial adaptation. Last year Japan indicated it would stop using CUN MB for chestnuts in 2015.

25. 2011 SC CUN - 3 US commodities 2013; Nominated 0.822 tonnes. Recommended. For treatment of dried fruit, walnuts and dates. This is a 66% reduction over the amount granted by the Parties for use in 2012. The section on Controlled Atmosphere storage in the MBTOC Assessment report may assist the US to achieve this decrease. US mills and processors 2013; Nominated 25.334 tonnes. Recommended. For use in mills and food processing structures. This represents a 66% reduction in the amount granted by the Parties in 2012. The MBTOC-SC Special Report in SF Efficacy may assist the US to achieve this decrease.

26. 2011 SC CUN - 4 US cured pork 2013; Nominated 3.730 tonnes. Unable to assess pending the receipt of the results of large scale trials to be conducted in spring and summer of 2011 and 2012. US Research in Cured Pork alternatives 2012: Nominated 0.45 tonnes. Recommended. For commercial-scale research on alternatives to control pests in cured pork in 2012, provided that the nominating Party is unsuccessful in sourcing required quantities from stocks (Decision XVII/9, para 7). Postharvest Research Aspects 2012 and 2013. Nominated 0.114 tonnes. Unable to Assess pending receipt of further information.