Brazil introduces new agricultural decree promoting self-regulation and risk-based inspections

President of the Republic of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Carlos Fávaro, signed Decree No. 12.126 that regulated the self-control programs of private agents regulated by the agricultural defense, in Várzea Grande metropolitan region of Cuiabá (MT) on July 31. 

The document also regulated the Program of Incentive to Compliance in Agricultural Defense for the sectors of products of animal origin, edible and non-edible, and products intended for animal feed.

The decree, to be published in an extra edition of the Official Gazette of the Union, also provided risk-based inspection and monitoring procedures for agricultural defense. From now on, it will allow the state to allocate resources to prioritize situations of greater risk to the community instead of wasting them on low or negligible risk cases.

″This regulation reflected the Government's concern in preserving the objectives of agricultural defense and respecting the autonomy of private initiative, marking a change in approach in the regulatory model of agricultural defense, allowing the pioneering application of a 'responsive regulatory model,'″ highlighted Minister Carlos Fávaro, emphasizing the importance of dialogue between regulators and regulated parties, providing an increase in transparency in the processes.

The new regulations will reflect modernization, remove government interventionism and establish the principle of self-control to allow agricultural inspection and surveillance procedures to have a more ″intelligent″ profile.

″The Self-Control Decree allows the State to direct its resources to situations of greater risk to the community, and, at the same time, offers more responsibility to the private agent, without prejudice to regulatory and inspection actions, which are non-delegable powers of the State,″ explained the Secretary of Agricultural Defense, Carlos Goulart.

In self-control, private agents must implement, execute, monitor, verify and correct procedures, production processes and distribution of agricultural inputs, food and products of animal or plant origin, to guarantee their safety, identity, quality and security.

SOFTWARE

Self-control programs were created to guarantee safety, identity, quality and security of agricultural products and will be implemented, monitored, verified and maintained by regulated private agents.

The Agricultural Defense Secretariat (SDA) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply will be responsible for establishing, in complementary standards, the specific requirements for each production sector necessary for the development of self-control programs, as well as the procedures and frequency for their official verification, considering risk assessments.

INCENTIVE FOR COMPLIANCE

The Agricultural Defense Compliance Incentive Program, established in 2020, aims to encourage the improvement of robust and auditable quality assurance systems to consolidate an environment of mutual trust between the Executive Branch and regulated agents.

The program required the regulated establishment to share operational and quality data in real-time with agricultural inspection in exchange for benefits and incentives, as per the regulation.

Membership is voluntary and can be requested via an electronic system by establishments that produce edible and non-edible animal products and products intended for animal feed, registered with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (Mapa).

Check here for more details on Decree No. 12.126/24.

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