REGULATORY AGENDA AND SUSTAINABILITY
CropLife Latin America and the network of Associations maintain a proactive dialogue with regulatory authorities, farmers, academia and other sectors to promote and defend regulations based on scientific evidence that allow access to agricultural technologies. Essential topics to advance towards agricultural sustainability.
This interactive map shows the most important advances and challenges of the 2021 operation which will remain on the agenda in 2022.
In August 2021, the Central American pesticide labeling standard came into force, approved within the framework of the Central American Customs Union, which is voluntarily adopted by other Caribbean countries, which notably facilitates trade in the region.
In the first part of the year 2022, registrants get ready to register the new labels as provided by the standard.
Regulatory improvements in Costa Rica had a dynamic agenda in 2021, the year in which the decree that modernizes its registration system for Technical Grade Active Ingredients (TGAI) came into force, recognizing the registrations made in OECD countries, so a more efficient process is expected. Likewise, after long consultations between the authorities and the registrants, the discussion of a new standard for the registration of the formulated product was concluded, which is expected to come into force as soon as possible in 2022.
Together with the CAN (Andean community of nations) General Secretariat, the national authorities of Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Bolivia, the national associations and CropLife Latin America held workshops to advance the implementation of the Globally Harmonized System (GHS). In accordance with Technical Manual 2075, as of February 2025, all pesticide labels must comply with the requirements established in the aforementioned System.
During the year 2021, InnovAgro and CropLife Latin America held various meetings with the regulatory authorities of Ecuador, to explain the progress of the project that seeks to establish the Re-entry Intervals to the crop areas treated with pesticides, in accordance with the guidelines established by the EPA, which are based on risk criteria. This initiative seeks to comply with the provisions of the First Temporary Provision of Andean Decision 804.
CropLife Latin America, Procultivos and InnovAgro, with the technical support of the firm Waterborne, concluded the Environmental Risk Assessment project - Second Phase, through which tools were developed for the staggered evaluation of environmental exposure of pesticides in water in key crops of Colombia and Peru.
The rapid adoption of drones in crops requires analysis of the regulation on the use of these unmanned vehicles for use in agriculture. For this purpose, CropLife Latin America and the Network of Associations held workshops in Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador, as well as a regional webinar with technicians, users, authorities, and industry.
The Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture issued regulations on the use of drones for the application of agrochemicals.
Good Agricultural Practices in the use of drones and possible regulations will be part of the 2022 agenda.
CropLife Latin America and Procultivos, with the support of renowned international experts, developed the Guide on the potential carcinogenicity of chemical pesticides for agricultural use, which was adopted by the National Institute of Health. It is expected that in 2022 the Guide can be analyzed and implemented in other countries of the region.
Ongoing is the joint work between authorities and agricultural producers to solve the problem of Maximum Residue Limits, which are in decline in the European Union, becoming an obstruction to international agricultural trade. The crops that may be affected are bananas, coffee, avocado and grapes, among others.
CropLife Latin America supported the National Associations of Chile, Paraguay and Colombia in holding workshops and meetings bringing positions between the public and private sectors closer together. A topic that will continue with a dynamic agenda in 2022.
In 2021, the Agreement entered into force upon receiving the approval of the minimum number of countries required, including Mexico and Argentina. However, countries that led its negotiation such as Costa Rica, Chile and Colombia have not yet ratified the instrument and question it, so its impacts wait to be verified in those countries.
CropLife Latin America presented the conference AGRICULTURE 4.0, on the importance of innovation in agriculture and the protection of intellectual property, at an event of the World Intellectual Property Organization.
By 2022, the monitoring of international discussions will be key, especially those of the Convention on Biological Diversity and Access to Genetic Resources.
This event was held in Paraguay under the coordination of CAFYF and the support of CropLife Latin America, aimed at regulatory affairs personnel of companies and regulators of the National Service for Plant and Seed Quality and Health (SENAVE). The seminar sought to strengthen local capacities for evaluation.
In Uruguay, the local association Camagro maintains constant communication with the authorities of the Administration of Agricultural Services to modernize the registration processes of phytosanitary products. Among the most relevant points of the joint work are those related to improving the confidentiality of the information, the protocolization of the registration and renewals process, the incorporation of human resources by the agency to streamline the processes and the improvements in the control and aspects related to combating illegal trade.
In Honduras, a new edited vegetable was approved as conventional and genetic editing trials in bananas are moving forward.
Costa Rica approved five biotech cotton events.
Guatemala approved the first edited vegetable as conventional and is getting ready to analyze and approve the first biotech seed registration applications in 2022.
Due to an effective technical and scientific argumentation, two constitutional actions did not prosper in Guatemala and Costa Rica, which hindered access to new technologies. The same thing happened with a bill for a moratorium on Living Modified Organisms, LMOs, in Costa Rica.
In 2022 El Salvador and Panama will be evaluating their regulatory frameworks for the documentation of their processes for the adoption of biotechnology and edited products.
In 2022, the final text of the Global Biodiversity Framework will be approved, which includes proposals of interest in the areas of biotechnology (Digital Sequence Information, and Access and Benefit Distribution) and agrochemicals (use reduction goals). CropLife Latin America, in coordination with CropLife International, has been training the authorities of the countries to help them establish national positions, duly informed, vis-a-vis the proposed goals and indicators.
