“…at this moment, we must concentrate efforts on the regulation of bioinputs…”
Gutemberg Barone A. Nojosa is the general coordinator of fertilizers, inoculants and soil conditioners at Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture – MAPA. He holds a degree in agronomic engineering from the Federal University of Ceará, as well as a M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in plant pathology from the Federal University of Lavras.
Barone was MAPA’s first Agricultural Attaché in Japan from 2010 to 2014 and also the first in South Korea from 2018 to 2022.
Gutemberg Barone, general coordinator of fertilizers, inoculants and soil conditioners at MAPA
AgriBrasilis – What advances did Decree 12858/2026 bring to the fertilizer sector?
Gutemberg Barone – First, it is important to recall that Brazil holds a leading position in agricultural exports and stands out as the world’s largest producer and consumer of bioinputs in agriculture.
Brazil’s regulatory framework for bioinputs is considered one of the most modern in the world and serves as a model for other countries because it enables production, consumption and significant investment in bioinput technology for Brazilian agriculture and livestock.
It is also important to emphasize that the amendment of Decree 4,954/2004 by Decree 12,858/2026 was mandatory under Law 14515/2022 [Self-Control Law]. All decrees in the agricultural defense area must be aligned with the new guidelines established by Law 14,515/2022, and the decree related to fertilizers was the first to be concluded in the area of agricultural inputs.
The main advances related to the regulated bioinput sectors were:
• To introduce the concept of the “Self-Control Program” and establish its relationship with the quality control system as a mandatory responsibility of the regulated agent;
• To establish the “Conformity Incentive Program” and define its objectives, as well as the criteria for accession and permanence, on a voluntary basis;
• To regulate the new terms for precautionary measures, so that, for example, what was previously referred to as an establishment embargo is now treated as suspension of activity;
• To establish the category of moderate infraction, previously nonexistent, between the already existing categories of minor, serious and very serious infractions;
• To standardize the procedural rite of the administrative inspection process; for that purpose, the existing provisions were removed and the procedures set forth in Decree 12,502, of June 11, 2025, must now be followed.
In due course, aspects were also updated to reduce bureaucracy and provide greater efficiency in the registration of establishments and new products:
• The validity of registrations, records or accreditations was extended from five to 10 years;
• The requirement to publish a scientific article for the definitive registration of a new product was revoked. Previously, such registrations were provisional for two years and conditioned upon publication. Currently, only forms containing technical-scientific data proving the efficacy of the product are required.
AgriBrasilis – What changed specifically for biofertilizers?
Gutemberg Barone – The amendment in question did not specifically address product classes. The rules for the registration and commercialization of biofertilizers remain the same as those established by Normative Instruction No. 61/2020, until a revision or update is made.
AgriBrasilis – How does the Decree relate to the Self-Control Law?
Gutemberg Barone – The amendment to the decree aligned the self-control provisions of Law 14,515/2022 with what had already been provided for under the designation of quality control:
The concept of self-control established by Law 14,515/2022:
“self-control: the capacity of the private agent to implement, execute, monitor, verify and correct procedures and production and distribution processes of agricultural inputs, food and products of animal or plant origin, with a view to ensuring their safety, identity, quality and security;”
Decree 4,954/2004 – On Quality Control
(Revoked) Art. 57. Regardless of public control and inspection, producing establishments, importing establishments and traders shall have written procedures and mechanisms for controls and records that ensure the quality of products and product manufacturing processes, in order to guarantee the production, import and commercialization of fertilizers, inoculants, soil conditioners, biofertilizers, remineralizers and plant substrates with quality and safety for the intended purpose of use, in accordance with the requirements established in an administrative act of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply.
(New text) Art. 57. Self-control programs are intended to ensure the safety, identity, quality and traceability of agricultural inputs, and shall be structured in proportion to the size of the economic agents and the identified risks. (wording given by Decree No. 12,858, of 2026).
Paragraph 1. Self-control programs shall be implemented and executed by the agents of the production chains covered by this Regulation and shall contain systematized procedures and controls that make it possible to monitor, verify and correct the stages of the production and distribution process.
AgriBrasilis – Why was it necessary to recalibrate the penalties?
Gutemberg Barone – Law 14515/2022 established the infractions and penalties applicable to all agricultural chains and revoked part of Law 6,894/1980, which had established the application of sanctions. Therefore, it was necessary to adjust the dosimetry in accordance with the provisions of its Article 28:
Art. 28. The fine referred to in item II of the caput of Art. 27 of this Law shall range from R$100.00 (one hundred reais) to R$150,000.00 (one hundred and fifty thousand reais), taking into account the classification of the offending agent and the nature of the infraction, as provided in the Annex to this Law and its regulation.
AgriBrasilis – What is the timeline for the transition period under the Decree?
Gutemberg Barone – The decree entered into force on the date of its publication, with an adjustment period granted only for aspects related to the Self-Control Program, which is mandatory.
If there are other aspects related to the transition, they will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
AgriBrasilis – What other regulatory updates are expected by the sector?
Gutemberg Barone – Over the past four years, the registration and inspection team for fertilizers, inoculants and soil conditioners has devoted special attention to the discussion and preparation of technical analyses on the texts of Law 14,515/2022 (Self-Control) and Law 15,070/2024 (Bioinputs), as well as other regulations related to the fertilizer sector. Therefore, this has involved technical, administrative and legal work to align all of these issues in parallel with the need to draft the respective decrees for each new law.
Especially for the fertilizer sector, changes are expected as a result of the Bioinputs decree, since products for soil and plant nutrition derived from microorganisms or organic substances will undergo reclassification.
The Coordination-General of Fertilizers, Inoculants and Soil Conditioners has a representative in the multidisciplinary Working Group to coordinate discussions surrounding the proposed regulation of bioinputs. This work has been carried out over the past six months of meetings with various sector representatives, entities representing production chains and government bodies. Different sectors of society submitted comments on the new bioinputs decree. At the moment, the observations received are being compiled and will be analyzed for the preparation of a final version of the proposed decree.
Therefore, at this moment, we must concentrate efforts on the regulation of bioinputs and then assess the other regulatory updates needed in each specific area.
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