According to the original text, the use of pesticides would be analyzed only by the Ministry of Agriculture. The National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) and the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) — which currently deliberate alongside the ministry — would become mere advisory bodies.
However, to please part of the Lula da Silva Administration — especially the Minister of Environment, Marina Silva — the project rapporteur, Senator Fabiano Contarato (PT-ES), made a change so that Anvisa and Ibama continue to participate in the decision-making process.
Lula da Silva sanctioned the law with some vetoes, which has been strongly criticized by environmentalists.
It was sanctioned with vetoes “to ensure the adequate protection of the rights to life and to an ecologically balanced environment,” stated the Presidency of the Republic.
One of the vetoes removes from the Ministry of Agriculture 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 Ministry of Agriculture, and the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) must issue opinions for the registration of a pesticide or the evaluation of any reported pesticide.
Initially, the law aimed to reduce the time for registering new pesticides. This proposal was harshly criticized by more than 140 social and environmental organizations, which argued that this rule had a high potential to harm the health of the Brazilian people, animals, and ecosystems.
The world’s largest consumer of pesticides, Brazil approved 505 new pesticide registrations just this year, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.
Between 2019 and 2022, 2,181 new registrations were granted, an average of 545 per year, and this number is expected to grow even more with President Lula’s approval of the Pesticide Bill, recently approved in the Senate.