According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Zoning and Construction, methyl bromide has not been in use in the farming sector for three years.
The Montreal Protocol binds developed countries to stop using methyl bromide by the end of 2005, while the deadline for countries with lower consumption of that substance, including Croatia, is 2015.
Methyl bromide had been used in Croatia since 1965, but it was banned early this year under a regulation on substances that deplete the ozone layer.
This pesticide was used in Croatia only for the fumigation of soil for the production of tobacco seedlings. A project launched by the Ministry has introduced alternative forms of growing tobacco seedlings, the so-called floating systems.
Leading industrial countries, including the United States, Germany, Japan and Great Britain, seek
a postponement of the ban, objecting that alternatives to methyl bromide are expensive and ineffective. Since the start of this year, methyl bromide has been used in the EU only for quarantine and pre-shipment application.
Methyl bromide is used effectively in the production of vegetable, flower, tobacco and other seedlings and for the fumigation of soil. However, its use causes damage to the ozone layer.
Without the implementation of the Montreal Protocol, the damage to the ozone layer in 2050 could be ten times worse than it is now, ministry officials have said.