NEWS

FPA Participates in 1st Latin America Fumigants & Pheromones Conference

March 2005

Monterrey, Mexico — More than 200 people from 26 countries traveled to Monterrey, Mexico, March 8-10 to learn and share their experiences in protecting stored products. Insects Limited and Fumigation Service & Supply (FSS) of Indianapolis, along with Pheromone Services & Supplies (PSS) of Monterrey were the organizers of this international meeting where “Real Solutions for Real Pests” was the theme. FSS is a founding member of the Food Protection Alliance, and PSS is the affiliate of FPA for Mexico.

Thirty-two speakers presented new, practical and innovative techniques to protect stored products from insects and other pests, and FPA members were well represented among the presenters. John Mueller of FSS spoke on fumigation costs and modern grain fumigation methods. César Altamirano of PSS and Anne Bookout of Royal Fumigation participated in a panel discussion of quarantine fumigation issues, including fumigation of perishable agricultural products, wood packing material, and implementation of international regulations in Mexico and Latin America. Jay Coleman of Research Fumigation Company was a speaker on the International Ship Fumigation panel and provided an update on the new short voyage regulations that recently went into effect in the United States.

In conjunction with the conference, a fumigation workshop was held at the Molisaba food-processing facility in Monterrey where John Mueller, president of FSS, and his team demonstrated various techniques including: a grain fumigation with Eco₂Fume®; new gas monitoring equipment; a mill fumigation using DowAgroscience’s methyl bromide alternative ProFume®; a ProFume® wood fumigation; a container fumigation with Cytec’s pure phosphine product, Vaporph₃os®; and a demonstration of integrated pest management techniques in a commercial food processing facility, including a pheromone trapping demonstration. This all-day workshop, conducted in Spanish and English, focused on the safe handling of fumigants as well as advanced fumigation techniques. 

This international conference and workshop educational series started in 1993 in Lübeck (Germany), and continued to Bologna, Chicago, York (U.K.), Indianapolis, Thessaloniki, Copenhagen and most recently Monterrey. More than 1,400 people from 44 countries have attended the conferences. “This is the place to meet people with common interests in stored product protection and share experiences through education,” said organizer David Mueller. The next conference will be in Bremen, Germany, in 2007.