German parliamentarians expressed concern about the risks of passing Bill 1459/2022, which deals with the use of Agricultural Pesticides. A letter signed by 21 German parliamentarians was sent yesterday, 07, to the President of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD), to the president of the Committee on Agriculture and Agrarian Reform (CRA), Senator Acir Gurgacz (PDT), to Senator Eliziane Gama (Citizenship) and Paulo Rocha (PT), also members of the Commission.

According to the document, parliamentarians say they are observing the progress of the legislative measure in the National Congress – already approved by the House and under discussion in the Senate – with great concern, since "Germany is an important trading partner of Brazil, both in terms of agricultural products and agricultural insums", they say.

"We believe that a high level of global protection for humans and the environment against potentially harmful chemicals constitutes a right of every human being, a prerequisite for the preservation of our common livelihood on planet Earth and an element of fair trade relations," they point out in another excerpt of the document.

"Therefore, we ask you as colleagues not to pass the bill hastily in the last days of this term, on the eve of the inauguration of a new president and amid discussions on the resumption of negotiations on the trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur," they conclude.

The German Parliament's pressure on the National Congress stems from the dialogues held by terra de direitos last week in Berlin. At the moment, the organization highlighted how the measure, if approved, will bring damage to Human Health and Brazilian Biodiversity, with impacts for the rest of the world.

For the coordinator of the Iguaçu Program, Naiara Bittencourt, who has been in dialogue with German parliamentarians, the Bill is so dangerous and will change crucial points of the current regulatory framework, which draws the attention of other countries, through their representatives. "Germany has strong trade relations with Brazil, the concern of German Members is absolutely legitimate, after all pesticide products released under a new law could be purchased by Germany," he said.

The other side

Regarding the latest version of the bill on pesticides, Congressman Neri Geller (PP-MT), one of the allies of the president-elect, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), said, in an interview with Folha de S. Paulo, that the report of the project, called by him "PL of the safest food", it brings in essence the modernization of legislation, more rigor in toxicological tests and, when regulating biotechnological, will help in reducing the cost of production, but mainly in the environmental issue, due to biological control.

"It's almost an organic crop. And it also brings the release of generic products, which reduces the cost. We have in line today more than 2,000 generics that are not released by bureaucracy. This will move the Brazilian industry", he explained in an interview with Folha.

When asked if Congress approves this project with the support of the Lula government, this could tarnish Brazil's image in the international market, he replied that if a correct narrative is made and technical look of the report, "it is positive from the point of view of the image out [exterior], because we are modernizing, we are helping the environment,  and having more rigor in toxicological tests."

In his opinion, the Lula government should deconstruct the image that agribusiness is an enemy of the environment. "And that's what we want to do. Whoever commits environmental crime, jail. Now, who work within legality, why not produce?" he said.

Pl 1459/2022 is now ready for a vote by the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Agrarian Reform. President of the CRA, Senator Acir Gurgacz is also rapporteur of the PL in the Commission and presented report in favor of the adoption of the legislative proposal.