Brazilian President vetoes key points of new Pesticide Law

Brazilian President Lula da Silva has vetoed crucial points of the new pesticide law that the country's parliament had approved. 

The main point concerns the body responsible for coordinating the reanalysis of risk for products and registration requests for similar products. According to the text approved by parliamentarians, this responsibility would fall under the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAPA).

According to the industry and rural producers, this veto undermines one of the main objectives of the new law, which is the need to modify current regulations for greater expediency in processes. This is because maintaining the current regulatory model requires separate analysis by the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) and the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa).

The agricultural sector pointed to the slow granting of registrations as a serious problem, with cases where waiting for an analysis exceeds eight years. They argued that this time-lapse hinders access to new, more effective, safer molecules.

CropLife Brazil (CLB) told AgroPages it was "surprised by the Executive Branch's decision to veto several provisions of Bill 1459/2022."

"Despite advances in legislation, the sanctioned text surprised the sector that expected the full approval of the project. The original version brought fundamental institutional advances for agribusiness to continue accessing technological innovations present in various agricultural-producing countries worldwide," CropLife said. 

According to the entity, MAPA's leadership would ensure "greater predictability for the private sector and efficiency for public administration, without waiving the strict technical-scientific criteria of health agencies."

Another veto considered "relevant and unjustifiable" by CropLife was removing the provision that exempted the indelible recording, that is, the company's raised brand on the pesticide packaging. 

"Brazil has one of the world's most advanced reverse logistics systems, with 93 percent of used packaging directed to controlled recycling. The veto represents, therefore, only additional cost without any benefit to the environment," they justified.

Finally, they noted the veto of the creation of a unified fee, which foresaw allocation for investments in the structure of regulatory agencies and greater oversight of agricultural chemical pesticides.

"CropLife Brazil will continue working for Brazilian agriculture and, together with other agricultural entities, is already in contact with members of the Parliamentary Agriculture Front, who played a fundamental role in the discussions and approval of the project, for future consideration of presidential vetoes by the National Congress," they said in conclusion.

(Editing by Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages)