Methyl Bromide (MB) has been defined as a controlled substance in Annex E under the Montreal Protocol at a meeting of the Parties at Copenhagen in1992, since it found that this substance contained ozone depleting potential (ODP) and was widely used in post-harvest fumigation, fumigation in storage, quarantine and pre-shipment (QPS) fumigation and soil fumigation.

          Due to the fact that Thailand is an agricultural country and makes many uses of MB, therefore it is necessary to prepare for the future shortage of this substance and this brought to the establishment of the Demonstration Project of Alternative to the Use of Methyl Bromide in Grain Storage. This project was approved a fund of 280,500 US dollars from the Multilateral Fund through the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in July 1998.

          As part of the project, an experiment of the use of alternative to MB was conducted at Capital Rice Co., Ltd., the largest rice exporter of Thailand, by using 2 approaches 1) Integrated Commodity Management (ICM) which is the management method within storage, like big cleaning activities (or 5s) in public sector and some general factories. With this method, Capital Rice Co., Ltd. succeeded to decrease a large number of pests including dirt incurred during commodities packaging, enabling the company not only minimized the pesticidal cost, but also gained it’s employees’ healthy. 2) Fumigation such as fumigation at grain stack by using solid Phosphine, fumigation within silo by using a combination of gas comprising 2% of Phosphine and 98% of Carbondioxide, and cassava pallets fumigation during shipment by using Phosphine. These 2 methods had been performed in comparison with the use of Methyl bromide and the results found that both had the same effectiveness, though Phosphine took longer time of fumigation. Now, the Capital Rice Co., Ltd. still uses the IPM method, although the experiment has already been completed.

          In December 2004, Thailand, in cooperation between the Department of Industrial Works and the Department of Agriculture, was endorsed another financial assistance at 2,901,600 US dollars from the Multilateral Fund for phasing out the consumption of Methyl Bromide in the country by aiming to phase out 241.8 ODP tonnes of this substance by 2013. The procedures to achieve the target include
          1. Legal measures and capacity building for the Department of Agriculture
          2. Sub-projects for users for converting Methyl Bromide
          3. Technical assistance and training for officers of the Department of Agriculture, trainers and users etc.
          4. Establishment of Project Management Unit

Thailand’s Methyl Bromide Phaseout Target

Thailand ODS Phase out Plan funded by the Multilateral Fund and the Global Environment Fund
(Source : Hazardous Substances Control Bureau, DIW : 2004)

• Grant Fund

Note :
1. 2 ongoing projects
2. 4 cancelled projects since enterprises can convert to the use of non- ODS equipments by themselves.