The agrochemical dilemma

an analysis of the Brazilian pesticide policy between 2019 and 2022 in the light of the Responsibility Principle

Abstract

Pesticides are widely disseminated substances in Brazilian agribusiness and embody the project of economic progress at the expense of ecological balance. In this vein, the first focus of the research seeks to expose the global and local context of the need to use pesticides from a historical perspective, in addition to legal treatment in Brazil, which will support the principle of sustainable development, as a means of containing the ills from pesticides. The second focus of the research consists of the qualitative analysis of normative acts (ordinary laws, decrees, provisional measures and administrative acts in general) related to pesticides and issued between 2019 and 2022 in Brazil, inquiring, including, the consolidated position of the STF through the analysis of two judgments. From this critical point of view, an ethical framework based on Hans Jonas' principle of responsibility will be drawn up, in order to find out to what extent the pesticide policy is (dis)aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), notably the SDG 2 and 12. The conclusion points to the need to create legislation that prevents the commercialization of pesticides in Brazil that are prohibited in the countries of origin and to the creation of effective public policies anchored in sustainable development, in addition to the application, within the scope of the three state powers, of the precautionary principle, whose constitutional motto calls for the assumption of responsibility designs.