With the aim of increasing protection for bees and pollinating insects, Ibama (Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) published Normative Instruction (IN no. 02/2017) establishing stricter guidelines for the release of active ingredients from agrochemicals . The new criteria cover products not yet registered in the country or that are being reevaluated.
The big difference with this new standard is the establishment of decision criteria based on the risk or probability of a species being affected by exposure to pesticides. Published in the Official Gazette of the Union on 10/02, the IN requires the presentation of information for the appropriate use of the agrochemical aimed at the survival, reproduction and development of pollinators.
The Normative Instruction launched by Ibama is the result of a Public Consultation carried out last year, in which representatives of teaching and research institutions, government bodies, entities representing the beekeeping sector, entities and companies in the sector, as well as beekeepers and meliponiculturists, participated. There was approval from 79% of participants, with 52% “strongly in favor” of the proposal and 27% “favorable”.
“Of the 141 plant species cultivated in the country for food, animal production, biodiesel and fiber, approximately 60% depend on animal pollination, points out the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa). Concern about the decline in populations of bees and other insects is growing around the world, which has led governments and organizations to systematically investigate the problem and its causes”, says Ibama in a statement.
Although specific to pollinating insects, the new IN also regulates the bases for the environmental risk assessment procedure for registering pesticides, which will be extended to other organisms and ecosystems.
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