The registration of 63 pesticides released by the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa) under Act No. 62 for 13th September, 2019, was suspended. The decision was issued by Judge Luis Praxedes Vieira da Silva of the 1st Federal Court of the Judicial Subsection of Fortaleza.
In his injunction, the magistrate justified that the products should not be authorized in Brazil because their “high toxicity rate is incompatible with the principles of governing economic activity, as they override the protection of the environment and are contrary to the basic principle of economic order, according to which economic activity is based on defending the environment and safeguarding the right to health and food.”
According to the ruling, “An economically-rich country with a growingly sick population can occur suddenly if we do not counter, today, the inclusive practice of such chemical and biological agents that are harmful to our environment. To think otherwise would be to let the administrative rules, often under the judgment of economic conglomerates that hold the bargaining power, allow the constitutionally-protected collective right, which is our environment, to be abused. Many of these pesticides are banned in developed countries, where compliance with their constitutional rules is stricter.”
Judge Praxedes welcomed a lawsuit filed in late September by Federal Deputy Célio Studart (PV-CE). “We will make sure that this act remains suspended and Brazil can reflect on, with greater insight, this abusive number of pesticides,” Studart told the plenary of the House of Representatives when communicating the decision to parliamentarians.
According to the announcement published on 3rd October, the number of pesticide registrations granted in 2019 reached 382, with 214 being technical products intended exclusively for industrial use. The other 168 are formulated products.
Source: Agropages
Image source: “Brasil” by ruifo is marked with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
