November 15 2003 at 11:27AM

Nairobi - The UN conference on protection of the ozone layer ended here without an agreement after North America and Europe asked for more time to continue using a pesticide it previously agreed to ban, a UN Environment Programme (UNEP) statement said.

"A decision on whether to grant the so-called Critical Use Exemptions for methyl bromide, the pesticide and ozone layer depleting chemical, was deferred to next year," said the statement sent to AFP after the conference ended on Friday night.

The statement said an "extraordinary meeting," to be hosted by UNEP in Montreal, Canada, in March 2004, will continue the process towards a total phasing out of methyl bromide, which began in 1996.

Under the terms of 1987 UN treaty, the Montreal Protocol, developed countries agreed to phase out their consumption of methyl bromide that is used to kill pests such as nematode worms, by January 1, 2005.

"However, some farmers, including strawberry, melon, pepper and tomato growers predominantly in North America and Europe, have argued that the current available alternatives are not technically or economically feasible to use," the statement said.

"They had asked Parties to the Montreal Protocol for exemptions amounting to around 15 000 tons of methyl bromide for the year 2005," it added.

"Unfortunately and despite a great deal of discussion, governments could not find a consensus on this complex issue at this week's meeting," the statement quoted UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer as saying after the meeting closed.

"They felt they needed more time to find an agreement which balances the interests of the farmers and other users of methyl bromide with international agreements to repair the Earth's protective shield," Toepfer said.

"The agreement to defer decisions to an extraordinary meeting underlined the importance that all governments attach to the Protocol and its provisions for healing the ozone layer which filters out harmful levels of ultra violet light from the sun," he added.

According to Toepfer, developed countries have already phased out Chloroflurocarbons (CFCs), once commonly used in products like fridges and hair sprays, along with several other chemicals with high ozone depleting potential.

Consumption of methyl bromide, one of the last key chemicals that needs to be phased out in developed countries, has also been reduced by 70 percent since the mid-1990s, he added. - Sapa-AFP

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