Brazil agchems bans would have impact over R$ 130 billion‏

Date:06-24-2014

According to a recent study from the Kleffmann Group consultancy, the impact of restrictions requested by the Public Ministry in Brazil over nine active ingredients of agrochemicals would be of over R$ 130 billion at least. By the least because the survey just analyzed losses on four crops (soybeans, corn, cotton, and sugar cane) based on official number of the 2011/2014 crop season.

The Federal Public Ministry filed two public civil actions requesting the prohibition of evaluation and use of several agrochemicals used in Brazil. Those are substances that are encountered in a procedure of toxicological reevaluation installed by the National Agency of Health Surveillance (Anvisa).

"if judged by precedent demands nearly 180 products registered will have its commercialization impeded, causing a drastic economic impact on crops of soybeans, corn, and cotton, sugar cane, coffee, kidney bean, fruits, vegetables, and greenery and on the control of plagues on pastures", affirms Lídia Cristina Jorge dos Santos, member of the Scientific Council for Sustainable Agriculture and associate of Figueiredo e Santos Lawyers Society office.

"The justification of the Public Ministry, briefly, consists over the fact that the delay of the Agency Health Surveillance to conclude the procedures of reevaluation that it could cause damage to the population health. In summary, the Public Ministry intends to obtain through a legal route, it is a decision that, under the enforced norms, should be taken with observance of technical aspects, by the Reevaluation Commission, by Anvisa, by the Ministry of Agriculture, and by the Brazilian Institute of Natural Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama)", explains her.

According to the lawyer, "it is clear that the Judiciary can and should be always called when it is needed to combat illegalities and yet, restrain injustices practiced by the public power, on the light of criteria founded on reasonableness, morality and efficiency. Within this scenario, the Judiciary can, for instance, be called to restrain the unjustifiable delay of public administration on the conclusion of this procedure, but never to decide over the suspension about the commercialization of these products, once they were evaluated technically by competent organisms and being sold over decades in Brazil and all over the world".

"It is important to highlight the measure of suspension of commercialization of these products corresponds to a decision of a reevaluation procedure that should be adopted later on. In this case, notwithstanding the laudable intention of the Public Ministry on protecting the population health, the principles of precaution and prevention precisely because, according to Brazilian laws, the establishment of the reevaluation procedure already corresponds to the application of these principles", sustains Lidia dos Santos.

For her, "while the procedure of toxicological reevaluation is not concluded, a judicial decision can bring losses. It is based on these arguments that the Judiciary, rightfully, dismissed the requested for protection anticipation introduced by the Public Ministry on two measures filed."