Lower House approves “Poison Bill” in an emergency vote

The bill 6.299/2002, which eases the rules for the adoption of pesticides in Brazil, was approved in the House of Representatives, in an emergency vote, by 301 votes in favor and 150 against, with two abstentions. Now the bill will be voted in the Senate.

Criticized by environmentalists and parliamentarians, the proposal has been dubbed the “poison package” for making the process of registering pesticides more flexible, facilitating their approval. As a maneuver, the text also calls for the replacement of the term “agrotóxico” by “pesticide”, to avoid the “demeaning” character of the former, according to the project’s rapporteur, Congressman Luiz Nishimori (PL-PR).

Since the beginning of the mandate, the Bolsonaro government has already approved 1552 new pesticides products, breaking its own record in 2021, with 550 released against 474 in 2019 and 493 in 2020.