Brazil partners with Canada and US in agrochemical use on minor crops

 

The Brazilian Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) has announced a technical-scientific cooperation agreement with Canada and the United States to evaluate existing products and stimulate the development of new agrochemicals for use on so-called "minor crops" - crops of less economic interest, such as fruits and vegetables. The main objective of the partnership is the exchange of experiences among the countries for the development of strategies to resolve problems faced in this sector.

 

"The partnership is important because in Brazil, as well as Canada, the United States and other countries, companies in the industry are reluctant to invest in studies to generate data for the registration of agrochemicals for these crops. This is due to the fact that the registration process for this type of product is extensive and expensive," explains Anvisa.

 

The result of this lack of interest in minor crops by major manufacturers is that producers face difficulties in finding legally registered pesticides, which leads to these crops being classified as Insufficient Plant Supplements (CSFIs). According to Anvisa, the international agreement brings to the country a "technical-scientific exchange on the subject and harmonizes actions necessary to address this problem."

 

Since 2012, Brazil has taken over the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Pest Management Center (PMC) of Canada, and with the Inter-regional Research Project Number 4 (IR-4 / USA). This cooperation harmonized Brazil's legislation with those international guidelines followed by Canada and the USA, and adapted its crop groups to the Canadian and American groups and the Codex Alimentarius.

 

"From 2014 to the present day, 1,200 new indications of CSFIs have been included in the package leaflets of agrochemicals marketed in Brazil, a result that already allows a minimum grade of products to be used in the contemplated crops. INC 01/2014 allowed for the substitution of more toxic pesticides for molecules of lower toxicity to the fruit and vegetable production process, representing a gain, not only for national agriculture, but also for the health of farmers, the population that consumes these foods and the environment itself, due to the use of safer and more registered products for these crops, "Anvisa said.

 

The document, called the Memorandum of Understanding on Insufficient Plant Supportive Cultures (CSFIs), was signed by Anvisa's CEO William Dib, the executive director of the Pest Management Center (PMC) / Canada), Marcos Alvares, and Jerry Baron, the executive director of IR-4.