“These cases are processed in the Federal Court, according to its constitutional jurisdiction. In Brasília, there are 27 Federal Courts — at least six of them…”
Luciana Fabri Mazza is a partner at Mazza & Manente de Almeida Advogados, a lawyer, graduated in law from Mackenzie University, postgraduate in tax law and tax procedure from the Brazilian Institute of Tax Studies, and specialist in public and corporate law.
Luciana Mazza, partner at Mazza & Manente de Almeida Advogados
AgriBrasilis – What role does the Judiciary play in assessing the registration of pesticides?
Luciana Mazza – Once a lawsuit has been filed by the applicant for pesticide registration, the Judiciary Branch acts to ensure that the competent agencies complete the administrative processes for pesticide registration when there is an unjustified delay. Court decisions do not interfere with the technical merit of the evaluations, but set deadlines for ANVISA, IBAMA and MAPA to complete their analyses. In case of non-compliance, the judge may apply coercive measures, such as the charging of daily fines.
AgriBrasilis – In which spheres are these actions judged?
Luciana Mazza – These cases are processed in the Federal Court, according to its constitutional jurisdiction. In Brasília, there are 27 Federal Courts — at least six of them (with 13 judges) regularly handle cases of this nature. Cases are distributed electronically, randomly, ensuring impartiality.
If the plaintiff receives an unfavorable decision in the first instance (preliminary injunction or sentence), they may appeal to the Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region. Appeals may also be filed with the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) for infra-constitutional issues and with the Supreme Federal Court (STF) if there is a direct violation of the Constitution.
AgriBrasilis – Do lawsuits guarantee pesticide registration? Why?
Luciana Mazza – The aim of the legal action, or lawsuit, is to ensure that the technical evaluation is completed by the responsible agencies, and not to ensure that the registration will be automatically granted. After the analysis, the agencies may still make demands, request clarifications or reject the pesticide registration request — in this case, appeals may be filed at the administrative level.
AgriBrasilis – What legal grounds support the filing of these lawsuits?
Luciana Mazza – The legislation that regulates the registration of pesticides establishes deadlines for the completion of analyses/evaluations. In the event of unjustified non-compliance with these deadlines, the applicant has the right to file a lawsuit, based on the right to a reasonable duration of the process (art. 5, LXXVIII, of the Federal Constitution/88), the principle of efficiency (art. 37, caput), and the duty of the Administration to decide (art. 48 of Law No. 9,784/1999).
AgriBrasilis – What is the impact of the deadlines in Law No. 14785/2023?
Luciana Mazza – Law No. 14785/2023 repealed Law No. 7802/1989 and significantly reduced the deadlines previously set by Decree No. 10833/2021. Now, the deadlines are defined directly in the new law, hierarchically superior to the previous decree, not allowing regulations that extend these limits.
AgriBrasilis – How long does a lawsuit process take?
Luciana Mazza – When filing a lawsuit, it is possible to request an urgent measure (preliminary injunction), which is usually assessed within a few days. If granted, the injunction will set a deadline for the agencies to complete their analyses.
If denied, the lawyer may submit a request for reconsideration to the same judge and file an appeal to a higher court.
Regardless of the injunction, the process continues with the presentation of a defense by the regulatory agencies, a reply by the plaintiff and subsequent judgment — which, in practice, takes between one and two years.
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