Un human rights experts* have called on brazil's Senate to reject a bill on pesticides, warning that its adoption will mark a setback for human rights in the country.

Before the main senate hearings on the text, experts warned that, if approved, it would weaken the regulation of the use of pesticides in Brazil.

People of all ages, including farmers, workers, indigenous peoples and peasant communities would be exposed to dangerous substances with devastating consequences for health and well-being.

They were alarmed by the provisions of the bill that would allow the use of carcinogenic pesticides and that carry a risk of reproductive, hormonal and malformation problems in babies.

In the rapporteurs' assessment, it is "a myth that pesticides are needed to feed the world and that the adverse effects of pesticides on health and biodiversity are somehow a cost that modern society has to bear."

For them, pesticides pose serious risks to human health and the environment on a local and global scale.

Brazilian regulatory structure

UN experts have already expressed concern and stood against the bill, recommending that Brazil align its regulatory structure with the standards and best practices of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD.

They warned that the passage of the bill would exacerbate pesticide-related human rights problems highlighted in the Special Rapporteur's 2019 report on toxics and human rights. Experts ask Brazil to take the recommendations of the document.

Experts believe that instead of passing the bill, Brazil should work to strengthen, not weaken, its regulatory framework on pesticides.

Women and girls, indigenous peoples

They called on the Brazilian government to implement effective measures such as banning aerial spraying and using pesticides near homes, schools, water resources and other protected areas.

The UN rapporteurs also called on Brazil to address the shortcomings in the country's current laws to prevent exposure to pesticides especially to indigenous peoples, Afro-Brazilians, quilombola communities, women and girls, peasants and other marginalised groups or persons at risk.

"The best way to prevent exposure is to eliminate the danger posed by highly dangerous pesticides," experts say.

They are also in dialogue with the Government of Brazil on this issue.

* Human rights rapporteurs work voluntarily, are not UN officials and do not receive salary for their work.

Source: Um só Planeta