Release of agrochem imports was not enough to Brazil's needs

The publication of a normative statement by Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply (Mapa) has changed the release process of agrochemicals imports registered until the year 2013. The goal was to diminish bureaucracy computerizing the procedures, but the sector says that the measure was insufficient and did not solve the problem of agrochemicals deficit in the market.

 

The normative statement No. 19/2013 was enforced since July 8th 2013, and required only that the interested firm filled an application request on an online system. The request should, on the other hand, be delivered in one of 27 superintendents of the Ministry, which would answer in 30 days.

 

"Today there are several systems. The idea of the norm is to integrate these systems and avoid delays of release process due to paper multiplications" ,said Luis Eduardo Rangel, general coordinator of Agrochemicals at Mapa, at the time.

 

However, representatives of the sector sustain that the normative did not solve the main problem faced by Brazilian farmers: the entrance delay of new products in the country. The average waiting time for the registration of a new substance is seven years.

 

"There is not any new pest control in the last five crop seasons in Brazil. Fatally, the pests are resistant to the products that are being used and, with the time, the farmers starts to spend more and the cost starts to double without a control", affirms Fabrício Rosa, director of the Corn and Soybean Growers Association of Brazil.

 

The entity points out that the lack of alternatives to combat plagues is the reason for the losses (R$ 25 billion loss due to Asian rust and the R$ 2 billion due to caterpillar Helicoverpa armigera in the last crop). "If you consider the whitefly, which is coming as a very strong plague in the soybean case, certainly we will get to over R$ 30 billion in losses in this crop because we don't have efficient products anymore", says Rosa.

 

A modification in the law that regulates the registration process is already being reviewed by the federal government, but the proposals are being discussed with involved sectors. "The staff of the Brazilian presidency have requested an analysis of all bureaucracies that could be removed from this process. The strategy is to rethink the model, so we can speed up and shrink these barriers and locate our scarce resources where it is really needed", affirms the general coordinator of agrochemicals at Mapa.