. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/USA/193 
2 June 2006 
 (06-2666) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
  
NOTIFICATION 
 
The following notification is being circ ulated in accordance with Article 10.6. 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   UNITED STATES
 
If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):         
2. Agency responsible:   Environmental Protection Agency  (EPA) (200) 
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, e-mail and web-site 
addresses, if available) of  agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be  indicated if different from above:         
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [  X ], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [   ], 5.7.1 [   ], other:         
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.  
ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):   Inorganic Bromide 
(HS Chapter:  3808;  ICS:  13)   
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:   Inorganic Bromide; 
Proposed Tolerance Actions (4 pages, in English) 
6. Description of content:   EPA is announcing that 12 specifi c inorganic bromide tolerances 
have been reassessed and is proposing to revoke  them because they are no longer needed. 
These 12 tolerances are for residues of inorganic bromide from pre-plant (non-food) use in 
or on raw agricultural commodities grown in soil fumigated with combinations of chloropicrin, methyl bromide, and propargyl bromide.  Although methyl bromide is used as an agricultural pesticide, the Agency considers its application as a soil fumigant to be a non-
food use because it is quickly degraded or metabolized in the soil, and subsequently incorporated into natural plant constituents . Methyl bromide is also emitted to the 
atmosphere.  Residues of the parent compound ar e not likely to be found in foods as a result 
of prior treatment of fields.  While residues of inorganic bromide may be present, these residues are indistinguishable from background because of inorganic bromide's ubiquity in 
the environment.  In addition, the Agency has concluded that inorganic bromide residue 
from such use is not of risk concern and has de termined those twelve tolerances to be safe. 
Consequently, EPA is proposing to revoke them  because no tolerances are needed for those 
non-food uses and the Agency considers these to lerances to be reassessed.  Furthermore, 
since methyl bromide, when applied as a pre-plant soil fumigant is a non-food use, it should be added as an entry to 40 CFR 180.2020 noting the non-food use determination.  The regulatory actions proposed in this documen t contribute toward the Agency's tolerance 
reassessment requirements under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) 
section 408(q), as amended by the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) of 1996.  By law, 
EPA is required by August 2006 to reassess the tolerances that were in existence on 
2 August 1996.  The regulatory actions proposed  in this document pertain to the proposed 
revocation of 12 tolerances that count as to lerance reassessments toward the August 2006 
review deadline. G/TBT/N/USA/193 
Page 2  
 
  7. Objective and rationale, including the na ture of urgent problems where applicable:  
Protection of human health and the environment. 
8. Relevant documents:   71 Federal Register (FR) 30845 31 May 2006; Title 40 Code of 
Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 180.  Will app ear in the Federal Register when adopted. 
9. Proposed date of adoption:   
Proposed date of entry into force:   }To be determined. 
10. Final date for comments:   31 July 2006 
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [  X ] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers, e-mail and web-site addresses, if available of the other body:   
Full Texts are Now Available on the Internet at URLs: 
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/24 22/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/E6-
8398.htm  
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/24 22/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/pdf/
E6-8398.pdf