International negotiators ruled Friday that the United States can continue using methyl bromide, a pesticide set to be banned next year because it contributes to the destruction of the Earth's ozone layer.

The pesticide, which has also been linked to prostate cancer and neurological damage, is used widely by American tomato and strawberry farmers and was slated to be eliminated worldwide in 2005 under the Montreal Protocol, the 1987 treaty to restrict the use of ozone-destroying chemicals.

The Bush administration had previously secured a one-year reprieve on the grounds that the pesticide qualified for a "critical use" exemption because viable alternatives to methyl bromide are lacking.

On Friday, experts on ozone policy and diplomats extended the U.S. exemption until next year but said the country must cut its use in 2006.

Negotiators for the treaty, which is considered one of the most successful environmental pacts in history, agreed in Prague, Czech Republic, that in 2005 the U.S. can use about 37 percent of the amount of methyl bromide it used in 1991, when the phaseout began, but that it can count on only a 27 percent exemption the following year, which would amount to 7,605 tons. The United States had asked for a 37 percent exemption for both years, and it obtained a promise from international negotiators that the group will revisit the issue next summer to determine if it could restore the higher allowance.

Methyl bromide, a fumigant injected into the soil to kill insects, weeds and disease, remains popular among farmers because it works well.

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