Argentina: The use of agrochemicals in Buenos Aires continues to be suspended

The Buenos Aires Ministry of Agrarian Development extended the suspension of Resolution 246/19 on the application of agrochemicals in the Province of Buenos Aires for three months, a statement from the provincial ministry reported.

The decision is due to the need to complete the ongoing work being carried out by the Technical Observatory of Agrochemicals (OTA), created on February 13, 2020.

The objective of the work is to gather, develop and provide technical scientific information on the use, application of agrochemicals and the effects that allow the implementation of specific public policies.

The intention of the agrarian portfolio, in charge of Javier Rodríguez, is to make the productive development of Buenos Aires compatible with the protection of the health of the population and the environment.

As explained in the official statement, the creation of the OTA responds to the determination of the provincial State to address this issue with the greatest responsibility, supported by technical and scientific evidence that allows it to base the decisions made around it.

The Ministry stressed that it is the first time that the State, in this case headed by that portfolio and accompanied by the Provincial Organization for Sustainable Development (OPDS), the Ministry of Health and the Water Authority, allocates resources to systematize all the evidence in relation to the impacts that agrochemicals have on the environment and for the formulation of strategies to minimize them.

To date, the OTA has 544 scientific-technical documents contributed by different institutions, and to be used for the elaboration of the synthesis documents of the Observatory.

On February 23, a new work table will be held, in which the research contributed on the categories "Agrochemicals and Human Health", "Environmental Impact of the Use of Agrochemicals" and "Social Aspects of the Use and Application of Agrochemicals” will be reviewed.

Once the work stage with the academic and research institutions is finished, the Observatory's conclusions will be published and be submitted to the contribution of the rest of the actors involved in society as a whole, in an instance of participatory public exchange.