According to the original text, the use of pesticides would only be analyzed by the Ministry of Agriculture. The National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) and the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Natural Resources (Ibama) — which today deliberate together with the ministry — would become merely consultative bodies.
However, to please part of the Lula Da Silva Adminstration — especially the Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva — the project’s rapporteur, Senator Fabiano Contarato (PT-ES), made a change so that Anvisa and Ibama continue to participate in the decision make.
Lula da Silva sanctioned with some vetoes the law, which has been strongly criticized by environmentalists.
It was sanctioned with vetoes “to guarantee adequate protection of the rights to life and an ecologically balanced environment,” the Brazilian Presidency stated.
One of the vetoes takes away from the Agriculture Ministry the exclusive powers for the evaluation and registration of pesticides, which will also continue to be analyzed by other regulatory institutions.
Therefore, the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA), the Agriculture Ministry, and the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (ANVISA) must issue reports for the registration of a pesticide or the evaluation of any reported agrotoxic.
Initially, the law planned to reduce the time for registration of new pesticides. This proposal was harshly criticized by over 140 social and environmental organizations for which this norm had a high potential to harm the health of Brazilian people, animals, and ecosystems.
The world’s largest consumer of pesticides, Brazil has approved 505 new pesticide registrations this year alone, as per data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.
Between 2019 and 2022, 2,181 new registrations were granted, an average of 545 a year, and this number is expected to grow even further with President Lula approval of the Pesticides Bill, recently passed in the Senate.