Brazil state court releases use of Paraquat herbicide‏

The Court of Justice of Rio Grande do Sul, the southern-most state of Brazil, have issued two decisions that authorized German companies Helm and Syngenta to market the herbicide Paraquat. The use of this active ingredient was prohibited in this state, one of the top grain producers in the country, even though the product was approved in all other Brazilian states. The substance is used to control weeds such as horseweed and sourgrass. Those invaders became resistant to glyphosate.

Brazil's National Agency of Health Surveillance (Anvisa), along with the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) and the Ministry of Agriculture, are the top agencies held accountable for regulation all over Brazil. However, a local organization, in this case the State Foundation of Environmental Protection of Rio Grande do Sul (Fepam), attempted to ban Paraquat alleging that the product shows risks to human health. In order to do so, it has used information of precedent regulations in countries like Guatemala and Nicaragua, besides data from the state's Center of Toxicological Information.

The winning party argued that Fepam, as a state organism, has not the competence to ban the commercialization and distribution of products authorized to be sold under the federal level. A preliminary verdict was published in the Diary of Justice last Thursday. Therefore, over 1,500 dealerships of agrochemicals in Rio Grande do Sul were allowed to sell the Paraquat, which is mostly used on crops like soybeans, wheat, corn, and even grapes.

"This is an extremely unique lawsuit and of extraordinary to farming in Rio Grande do Sul because it guarantees freedom to the farmer and traders to use the same elements that other farmers and dealerships would use in the rest of Brazil. The decision puts local farmers in a position of equity with farmers from all over the country", commemorated Guilherme Franzen Rizzo, the lawyer defending Helm in the case.

Fepam and the Federal Public Ministry promise to appeal to the Brazilian Supreme Court. The juridical discussion is not centered on the risks involving the agrochemicals, but on the legal validity of Fepam restricting the sales of products approved and registered throughout federal organisms based on state legislation.

The court of appeals judge José Abreu Lima da Rosa, rapporteur of the Syngenta case at the Superior Court of Justice, concluded that " it is not possible that a state bans the distribution and commercialization of a product housed under federal registration and records", while prosecutor Carlos Paganella from the State Public Ministry, sustained that "there is an understanding at Brazil's Supreme Court that states can legislate and be more restrictive, stricter than federal norms in areas such as health, environment, and consumer protection".

Using a state law of 1982, Fepam banned 26 brands of agrochemicals in the last seven years. Seven active principles were barred simply for not having registration in the country of origin, such as Endosulfan.

Paraquat is registered and used in over 90 countries worldwide. It is widely used even in agricultural markets recognized as having the most stringent regulatory systems, such as the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and New Zealand.