Brazil House rejects pesticide production and consumption control system

The Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development and Supply Committee rejected the regulation Proposal 1950/11 by Representative Amauri Teixeira (PT-SP) on Mar 20, which establishes a pesticide production and consumption control system through electronic surveillance.

Representative Marcos Montes (PSD-MG), presented a rejection to the proposal. Montes believes it creates "additional bureaucracy, unnecessary and harmful to Brazilian agriculture."

As the proposal was rejected in a conclusive character, the only commission which examined the merit it will be filed unless the resource is approved for the project to continue its passage by the Plenary Assembly.

Difficulties and costs

The current regulation (7.802/89) determines that pesticides are evaluated by public agencies in charge of health, environment and agriculture matters, before being registered at the Department of Agriculture. The regulation requires to be prescribed by a legally qualified people for commercialization and use of the products.

"New control mechanisms do not add benefits, instead it will bring difficulties and even higher costs," argues Montes. He also highlighted the shortage of human and material resources within the government, which has become extremely time consuming to register new or equivalent products.

Representatives defend the project

Members Bohn Gass (PT-RS), Marcon (PT-RS) and Anselmo de Jesus (EN-RO) voted against Montes’ opinion. Representative Ze Silva (PDT-MG), author of a separate vote, also in defense of the project, recalls that a special subcommittee of the Commission on Social Security and Family should analyze the use of pesticides in the country.

One of the conclusions pointed out that the government lack of knowledge for the pesticide industry, since the information on production, importation, exportation, sales and use are produced by the market itself.

"Brazilian authorities do not have instruments to monitor pesticides from initial production up to final consumption by the farmer," says Silva. "the agronomic prescription used has distorted use, serving only to facilitate the sales and is not used as a primary source of guidance to the producers."

Losses to Brazil

According to the Representatives, the use distortion of these products in Brazil has caused damage to the Brazilian agribusiness, when the FDA (Food and Drug Administration of the United States) vetoed the entry of orange juice in the presence high levels of Carbendazim fungicide in 2012.