Lula vetoes the law that speeds up the registration of pesticides in Brazil

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After 24 years of processing, a text with new rules for pesticides was approved in Congress. Standard establishes deadlines and fees for authorization of new products. Pesticide application carried out by plane. GloboNews President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) vetoed the bill that speeds up the registration of pesticides in Brazil. The text was published in an edition of the Official Gazette of the Union this Thursday (28). After 24 years being processed in the National Congress, the text was approved by the Senate in November and sent for sanction. The new law establishes deadlines and fees for authorization of new agricultural pesticides. In the Senate, the proposal’s rapporteur, Fabiano Contarato (PT-ES), constructed a “middle ground” between the agribusiness claim and the desires of more progressive sectors of the Lula government. The meeting with members of the agribusiness bench led to the rejection of a series of changes made by the deputies, including a device that allowed automatic temporary authorization for new pesticides, which are already permitted by member countries of the Organization for Cooperation and Development Economic (OECD). In total, President Lula vetoed 14 sections of the law approved by Congress. See below some vetoed points: Excerpt that determined the Ministry of Agriculture as the only body capable of coordinating reanalyses of pesticide risks, removing the role of Ibama and Anvisa. Excerpt that gave exclusive power to the Ministry of Agriculture to technically evaluate changes in pesticide registrations regarding the production process, specifications of the technical product and changes to raw materials or additives. In theory, this text removed the competence of Ibama and Anvisa to analyze changes in pesticide registrations. Article that authorized the Ministry of Agriculture and Ibama to grant requests for products based on active ingredients undergoing reanalysis even before the procedure was completed. Excerpt that exempted companies from placing the name itself and the warning that the container cannot be reused on the packaging, so that it would not be possible to erase it. Articles that created the Assessment and Registration Fee for new products. In most cases, the president justified the vetoes by the unconstitutionality of the articles, in addition to the risk to human health and the environment. In the case of the veto on the Assessment and Registration Fee for new products, the justification is that the bill did not establish the calculation basis and rate for the tax. The vetoes will still be analyzed by Congress. Shorter deadlines According to the approved proposal, the processes for granting and reevaluating registrations for these products must follow deadlines, which will be shorter than the current ones. The project also establishes a fee for the evaluation procedure, which will be defined later. The text says that pesticides and similar environmental control products may only be researched, produced, exported, imported, sold and used if previously authorized or registered with a federal agency. Under the project, the Ministry of Agriculture will be responsible for registering pesticides. The Ministry of the Environment will be responsible for coordinating the registration of environmental control products. The Ministry of Health will be responsible for technically supporting the procedures. The participation of the bodies in the process was Contarato’s main change in the proposal approved by the Chamber. The text that won the approval of deputies in February made it possible to centralize the pesticide registration process in the Ministry of Agriculture and transformed the bodies linked to the Environment and Health into consultative ones. Also in accordance with the sanctioned law: risk assessment of products will be mandatory. This study must take into account economic and social factors and the effects of using these products on human health and the environment; pesticides and environmental control products that are classified as posing an “unacceptable” risk to the environment and humans will be prevented from obtaining registration; The registration process for new products must be completed within 24 months. Pesticides with formulas identical to others already approved will have a reduced period of 60 days.

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