“New agrochemical law will change a lot in Brazil”, says executive director of Andef

 

"Much will change in Brazil," if the new Agrochemicals Law is approved by the country, according to the executive director of the National Association of Plant Protection (Andef), Mário Von Zuben. 

 

Von Zuben noted that it is time to update the nation’s agrochemical laws, since the existing standards are almost 30 years old, while science has advanced considerably in the last three decades.

 

"Agrochemicals are at a very important moment. We had a very heated debate over the last year about the new legislation proposed for the modernization of the pesticide sector in Brazil. This project is still under discussion in the National Congress and has already passed the approval of the Special Committee of the Chamber of Deputies," said Von Zuben. 

 

Further, this law will bring modernization to the agricultural pesticides sector, raising the level of scientific rigor in product analysis. "It also creates an important mechanism: the deadline for evaluation of regulatory bodies will be done in a predictable time - something that does not exist today. Today, it takes up to eight years, while other countries, like the United States and Argentina, take only two years, which leads us to compete at a level of great inequality with other players," noted Von Zuben.

 

"The new legislation brings a systematic mechanism of coordination among the regulatory bodies, including the Ministry of Agriculture, Anvisa and Ibama. There will be a system where everyone will exchange information, and this will make everything much more agile than it is today. This should facilitate the analysis of the processes with greater predictability, so that investment continues to come to Brazil," said Von Zuben. 

 

"Through this collaborative system of information exchange, the new law will bring more agility to the process, which will also benefit minor crops, since there will be a more favorable environment for investment. Already there are molecules approved for other large crops that would solve the problems of small farmers," added Zuben.