Brazil’s Anvisa extends term of use of paraquat stocks

By Leonardo Gottems, Reporter for AgroPages

The Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency, Anvisa, on Wednesday, October 7, announced they were extending the deadline for the consumption of the remaining stocks of products based on the herbicide Paraquat that are already in the possession of farmers. 

The decision was made during an ordinary meeting of the board of directors of the agency and is valid only for the current harvest 2020-2021.

The decision meets a request made by the Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil (CNA). According to the president of the National Commission for Cereals, Fibers and Oilseeds of the CNA, Ricardo Arioli, the measure is extremely relevant for soy producers to be able to use the products they have already purchased with ease.

“Due to the high movements in the price of soybeans, as well as the devaluation of the Real against the dollar, the vast majority of producers made the advance purchase of inputs, including products containing the active ingredient Paraquat,” he said.

With this decision, Anvisa will create a new Collegiate Board Resolution (RDC) that will change RDC 177/2017 and include the definition of the new deadlines for the use of inventories in the 2020-2021 harvest. The new deadlines will take into account the regional calendars of each of the cultures that have a record of the use of the active ingredient.

According to Arioli, non-use could bring unplanned financial losses to farmers. “With the delay in planting soybeans in the 2020-2021 harvest, the extension of the use of stocks is even more important not to affect the increase in production costs. There are still countless losses related to the reverse logistics of products and the potential conception of environmental liability.”

The decision still does not alter the resolution of the previous meeting, which took place on September 15, 2020, on the product ban. Therefore, only the deadline for using the stocks held by farmers has been extended. The production, import and commercialization of any kind of products based on Paraquat are prohibited.