Brazilian representatives defend less bureaucracy for agchem registration on minor crops

Brazilian representatives have defended the simple and fewer bureaucratic procedures in the country for the release of pesticides for minor crops during a public meeting of the special commission assigned to analyze the bill that updates regulations on agrochemicals in Brazil.

 

In Brazil, the minor crops have restricted number of products for the management of plagues. The scarcity of products compels producers to use products approved for major crops – which is illegal according to Agrochemicals Law (Law 7802/1989) currently in force.

 

A common complaint of farmers is that most agrochemical makers are not interested in investing in the development and registration of pesticides for minor crops. The industry has responded to the complaint citing the excessive bureaucratic procedures and the high costs involved.

 

Three other directors of pesticide registration bodies in other countries participated in the hearing: Daniel Kunkel (United States), Marco Alvarez (Canada) and Alan Norden (Australia). 

 

“In Australia, the time required for the first registration of a pesticide is two years. For the registration of a new use for the product, the time required is eight months to one year,” said Norden. 

 

Kunkel informed those present at the meeting that in the United States, when a pesticide is registered and someone requests a new use for the product, the license for it takes eight months.

 

The special commission comptroller, representative Luiz Nishimori, stressed that Brazil should follow these examples. “We all know that it takes three to eight years to register a product in Brazil,” he affirmed.

 

The president of the Fruits Commission of the Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil, Tom Prado, defended the country's new agrochemicals law that allows an agronomist to permit the use of an already registered pesticide for a crop not specified in its package insert. “Today, the registration only can be done if the industry writes the authorization in the leaflet. This does not happen in other countries. Brazil has to adopt international criteria. There are crops for which there are no registered pesticides,” he complained.

 

Representative Valdir Colatto insisted that agronomists should have the autonomy to prescribe a pesticide authorized in other countries. “Why can’t we use the products used in Australia and the United States? We must be able to accept similar products,” he asserted.