Three Brazilian states are conducting a joint operation to accommodate overlapping demand for the registration of minor crop use pesticide.

On 28 Jun 2016, the Paraná agriculture federation (FAEP) summoned the industrial and institutional representatives of Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina with the goal of implementing facilitated registration for minor crop pesticides and address overlap in demand between the three states.

The initiative is designed to consolidate and find a best fit between registration demands and requirements of pesticides in the three states. Minor crops are similar in Parana, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul and an alignment will avoid repetitive field trial associated with multiple new registration applications in the three states

Brazil defines minor crops as “crop with insufficient plant health support”. All fruits and vegetables and some cereal production sectors in Brazil have experienced the problems which arise from the absence of registered pesticide which occasions illegal pesticide use and overburdens agricultural prescription capacities.

To address these problems and simplify the registration process, three pesticide registration authorities: the ANVISA, the IBAMA and the MAPA have issued a joint normative instruction (INC No1/2014), which adopts crop grouping and extrapolations of the MRL and safety interval between crops.

Crops are classified into crop groups/subgroup in accordance with their botanical, food and plant characteristics and each group/subgroup has been designated with representative plant. If a pesticide has been registered for use on the representative crop, the residue data obtained from the representative crop could be utilized for the registration on all crops within the same group/subgroup.

For example, if a farmer wishes to use a pesticide registered for tomato for eggplant management but the pesticide has not yet been registered and MRL establishment has not been completed for eggplant use, then if tomato and eggplant are classified in the same crop group then the tomato MRL can be extrapolated to eggplant usage etc.

The pesticide producer should first file an application to the MAPA for the extrapolation and will be given an adjusted term of up to 24 month to conduct the residue study. The MRL established will be the definitive MRL for plants within a category provided it shows no impact on ADI (Acceptable Daily Intake) evaluation for specific plants.

To date, 47 branded pesticide have registered under INC No1/2014.