“…there are some States that are facing great difficulty, a paralysis on fiscalization services. Items that were already consolidated and clear are no longer so…”
Leonardo Vicente da Silva is the coordinator of pesticide control at the Secretariat of Agriculture, Fisheries, Livestock and Supply of the State of Rio de Janeiro.
Vicente da Silva ai an agronomist from the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, and a M.Sc. in biosystems engineering from the Federal Fluminense University.
Leonardo da Silva, coordinator at the Secretariat of Agriculture of Rio de Janeiro
AgriBrasilis – What do you expect from the decrees that should come to regulate the new pesticides law? What loose ends are still left to be resolved?
Leonardo da Silva – When Law No. 14785 was enacted, it was intended to be self-regulated. There are more than 58 articles, with numerous clauses and paragraphs, which leave little room for interpretation and regulation. This is a law that has a high degree of complexity in its regulation and there is already a working group for this purpose together with the Ministry of Agriculture, in partnership with other States.
We are talking about pesticides here, and their use involves a high degree of technology and has a high impact on the environment and human health. Finding the balance based on little room for regulation is a huge challenge.
AgriBrasilis – Will anything change regarding State registration?
Leonardo da Silva – Our understanding is clear on this matter. The new law doesn’t change anything regarding State registration. For every State that has consolidated legislation, this still remains in force. This is guaranteed by the federalization of the States in Brazil. It was already this way before the law was approved.
Pesticide companies have already understood the need to maintain State registration: it is a form of double checking, so that we have more security. Adjustments are made according to the reality of each location, each State. The registration is a form of control so that the State can exercise its police power and prevent smuggling of products, etc.
AgriBrasilis – What will the procedure for the revaluation of pesticides be like now?
Leonardo da Silva – With the presidential vetoes overturned, the Ministry of Agriculture will once again be the agency that will revaluate pesticides, and may request support from other agencies. This centralization causes us great concern.
All existing protection from the perspective of human and environmental health was removed, positioning these aspects in an almost auxiliary manner. These are products with intrinsic risk in their use, which is why it is important to maintain these other perspectives, in addition to the issue of agronomic efficacy.
AgriBrasilis – Why did Ibama have to backtrack on the thiamethoxam case?
Leonardo da Silva – In the case of thiamethoxam, there is an enormous degree of complexity. All of this occurred at a time of legislative transition. The transition caused almost a “regulatory blackout” in Brazil.
There was (prior to the new law) an alignment between Federal and State legislation, with a certain degree of clarity and commitment, and suddenly there was this misalignment. There are some States that are facing great difficulty, a paralysis on fiscalization services. Items that were already consolidated and clear are no longer so.
The risk of using pesticide products, their impact on pollinators… it is important to discuss these points. We should not focus only on the agronomic efficacy of the product, especially because it impacts other organisms. We need a multidisciplinary vision regarding pesticides. It is a challenge, and there are very strong economic interests behind it. And the way to describe this, the narrative that is told to the population, to society and to farmers is a dilemma.
We, State agricultural inspectors, need to have a “secular” view, free from conflicts of interest. We can only make informed decisions, not based on guesswork or personal opinions. Our concern is that products that are already known to be too toxic will return, for example.
These changes were made at a time of great polarization, seeking to better serve the interests of the industry, in my opinion. This law has little concern for environmental health.
AgriBrasilis – What guarantees that the new deadlines will be followed? Will there be an increase in lawsuits?
Leonardo da Silva – It is not ideal to set pre-determined deadlines to be followed, to the detriment of the quality of the evaluation. In this way, the pesticide registration process is focused on the deadline and not with the necessary steps. Will an employee have the peace of mind to evaluate in more depth or will they simply have to meet a deadline? Because if they do not meet it, there can be lawsuits. It is not possible to work with products with this level of toxicity just by worrying about deadlines.
The blame regarding the delay in pesticide approvals is being put on public employees. This is a short-sighted view of the registration process. There are few people to handle such a huge scale, and they are under economic pressure to speed things up. All this so that more products can be made available. And what we have seen in the market is more of the same. New products (new molecules) are in fact few and far between.
I reiterate our concern about the matter. Here in the State of Rio de Janeiro we have been working to combat illegality and to avoid risky products, through our State law, which is robust and guarantees an evaluation in accordance with environmental protection. We assess all risks based on “protective principles, which determine whether or not the product is suitable for our State.