Brazil close to ending residue of pesticides on vegetables, according to MAPA

The goal of obtaining 100 percent conformity with adequate parameters of toxicity on vegetables has nearly been achieved, an official of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA) has said.

"We will continue to seek 100 percent conformity on products such as fruits, cereals, almonds, and peppers, in order to guarantee food safety," said Luis Rangel, Agricultural Defense secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, commenting the result of the Analysis of Pesticide Residue Program released by the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa).

Ninety nine percent of vegetables, evaluated between 2013 and 2015, were under conformity with the established standards of the legislation, revealed Anvisa. “We have managed to revert a scenario with over 25 percent of samples without conformity with previous researches for only 1 percent,” Rangel highlighted.

The ministry, through the National Plan of Residue and Contaminants Control and Anvisa, mediated by the Analysis of Pesticide Residue Program work together, standardizing and harmonizing actions in order to monitor the residue of agrochemicals on vegetable products. One of the goals of the program is to guide the productive chain about the nonconformities in the productive process and to push for good agricultural practices.

The program relies on the participation of the 27 entities of the federation involved in the sampling and decision-making process after the recognized results. The analyses are made by four Central Laboratories of Public Health (Lacen GO, MG, RS and PR) and through the private laboratory hired by the bidding process.

According to the general coordinator of Vegetable Control of the Ministry, Fátima Parizzi, the Ministry of Agriculture and Anvisa are defining the mechanisms of convergence between the sample plans of residue control and analysis that would enable them to track the products of nonconformity from its origins.