After being introduced in the House of Representatives 20 years ago, Federal Law No. 14,785/2023 was passed at the end of 2023, establishing and modifying rules for pesticides related to the research and experimentation on production, storage, commercialization, registration, control and inspection of pesticides, environmental control products and similar products.

The law aims to accelerate the pesticide registration process, including by establishing specific deadlines and procedures for the analysis of registration requests related to new products intended for research and experimentation. Federal Decree nº 4,074/2002, a regulation stemming from revoked Federal Law No. 7,802/1989, had set a deadline of 120 days for the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAPA), the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) and the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) to complete their technical-scientific assessments for registration purposes. However, Federal Decree No. 10,833/2021 established longer deadlines—of 12 to 36 months—due to the technical complexity and the priority category of pesticides.

The sanctioned normative text was the object of certain presidential vetoes, mainly regarding provisions that would:

  1. Remove powers from IBAMA and ANVISA for the analysis of the impacts of pesticides on the environment and human health, under the justification of unconstitutionality and contradiction to the interest public;
  2. Give MAPA the exclusive authority to coordinate toxicological and ecotoxicological analyses and re-analyses, maintaining the tripartite model (health, environment and agriculture) provided for in the repealed legislation (Law Federal nº 7802/1989);
  3. Deal with consumers' right to information about the prohibition of reusing pesticide packaging, under the justification of misinformation and non-compliance with the precautionary principles and provisions against socio-environmental setbacks; and
  4. Establish fees linked to the provision of pesticide evaluation and registration services, under the justification of the absence of a calculation basis, considered essential for the validity of tax rules.

The National Congress will not vote on the presidential vetoes until March 3, 2024, allowing time for further evaluation, and the vetoes may be overturned.

Visit us at Tauil & Chequer

Founded in 2001, Tauil & Chequer Advogados is a full service law firm with approximately 90 lawyers and offices in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Vitória. T&C represents local and international businesses on their domestic and cross-border activities and offers clients the full range of legal services including: corporate and M&A; debt and equity capital markets; banking and finance; employment and benefits; environmental; intellectual property; litigation and dispute resolution; restructuring, bankruptcy and insolvency; tax; and real estate. The firm has a particularly strong and longstanding presence in the energy, oil and gas and infrastructure industries as well as with pension and investment funds. In December 2009, T&C entered into an agreement to operate in association with Mayer Brown LLP and become "Tauil & Chequer Advogados in association with Mayer Brown LLP."

© Copyright 2024. Tauil & Chequer Advogados, a Brazilian law partnership with which Mayer Brown is associated. All rights reserved.

This article provides information and comments on legal issues and developments of interest. The foregoing is not a comprehensive treatment of the subject matter covered and is not intended to provide legal advice. Readers should seek specific legal advice before taking any action with respect to the matters discussed herein.