US embassy cable - 04MADRID4431

UNCLAS MADRID 004431 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR OES/ENV (JULIE GOURLEY AND JOHN THOMPSON) 
AND EUR/WE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV, AORC, EAGR, ETRD, PREL, SP 
SUBJECT: SPAIN WILL LIKELY SUPPORT U.S. METHYL BROMIDE 
CRITICAL USE EXEMPTION REQUEST 
 
REF: STATE 245175 
 
ESTHOFF made reftel points November 19 to MFA Environmental 
Affairs Office Director Teresa Molina Schmid, underscoring 
our concerns about the arbitrary methods the Montreal 
Protocol's technical body employed in responding to our 2006 
Methyl Bromide Critical Use Exemption (CUE) submission, and 
requesting GOS support for our original 2006 CUE at the 
November 22-26 Prague meeting of the parties to the Protocol. 
 Molina said that Spain would likely support the original 
U.S. 2006 CUE, as Madrid was also disappointed with the 
response it had received to its own CUE request.  She noted 
that Spanish strawberry growers had encountered problems in 
finding effective substitutes to Methyl Bromide.  This had 
led to Madrid's CUE request and Spanish sympathy for other 
countries facing a similar problem.  Molina said she would 
fax our points to the Spanish delegation, which had already 
left for Prague.  She called ESTHOFF back later November 19 
to confirm that our talking points and nonpaper had reached 
the Spanish delegation in the Czech capital. 
ARGYROS