“Regarding avian influenza, we would like to clarify that, in May of this year, we have extended the state of animal health emergency in Brazil…”
Carlos Goulart is a federal agricultural inspector and secretary of agricultural defense at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil.
Goulart is an agronomist from the Federal University of Santa Catarina, and a M.Sc. in tropical and subtropical agriculture from the Agronomic Institute of Campinas.
AgriBrasilis – The Ministry of Agriculture wants 30% to 50% of the Brazilian cattle herd to have some level of traceability by 2026. Why? What does this mean in practice?
Carlos Goulart – Our expectation is to establish a robust national traceability process, prepared to meet the expectations of importing countries, which have constantly requested the traceability certificate as a mandatory item in health control rules. Some countries have even requested this guarantee.
We are working to have this measure implemented in our country as well. However, this is a sensitive issue and still requires a lot of work. In the past, there have been attempts and resistance for various reasons.
The matter of traceability is a current, global demand, not limited only to sustainability. The effective implementation of individual bovine traceability and its deadlines will depend on the level of consensus on a feasible project that also involves the engagement of the productive sector, including the farmers and the industry.
AgriBrasilis – In May, the animal health state of emergency due to avian influenza was extended again. What have been the consequences of the occurrence of the disease in Brazil, even without circulation on commercial poultry farms?
Carlos Goulart – Regarding avian influenza, we would like to clarify that, in May of this year, we have extended the state of animal health emergency in Brazil. To date, we have only detected the virus in backyard birds (for subsistence) and wild animals. There have been no detections on commercial farms. However, we are maintaining the status of a animal health emergency for this disease, since it allows for the application of immediate measures, if necessary, to address situations and adopt rapid outbreak measures in the event of detection on commercial farms.
We would also like to remind that this is the highest level for a state of emergency, and it should remain as such as long as we identify this need, despite the fact that there have been no recent cases or outbreaks on commercial farms, as explained above. This state of emergency remains in place because the virus is still circulating in the country, meaning the risk is very high.
AgriBrasilis – Regarding changes to the pesticide law, which aspects require priority for regulation?
Carlos Goulart – Regarding pesticides, we would like to emphasize that one aspect that requires priority for regulation, not necessarily through decrees, but through sub-legal acts, is the competence that was previously held by State agricultural defense agencies and was transferred to the Union (Federal level), regarding the registration of establishments that were previously conducted at the State level.
We have already developed a new system and will, until the end of this year, implement these changes. The other issues are being addressed with the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (Anvisa) and the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Resources (Ibama) and, in our opinion, there is no urgent demand that would impact the application of the law – and the consequent provision of the public service of analysis and approval (or rejection) of pesticide registrations – that would require top priority at this time.
In practice, the new pesticide legislation has not yet had a noticeable impact on Brazilian farmers, given that its major change is to bring governance to the pesticide registration system, since its competences have not been changed to the Ministry of Agriculture, Anvisa or Ibama. This is will bring a new form of governance management of the registration process, and is expected to bring, in the medium and long term, predictability and governance in the granting of pesticide registrations, which impact the Public Policy on Phytosanitary Protection, which is the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture. Therefore, we do not expect that the farmers will notice an immediate impact with the change in the pesticide legislation.
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