Brazil Anvisa hits back at industry complaint

The Brazilian agrochemical toxicology regulator has rejected pesticide industry criticism of its recent actions against four companies. The national health surveillance agency, the Anvisa, says that the charges, including suing BASF for marketing out-of-date pesticides, were based on federal pesticide legislation and regulatory rules. It further claims that it followed the UN FAO code of conduct that advises regulatory bodies’ action to promote pesticide quality control. Agency inspections at four agrochemical companies in August found examples of “irregular” reprocessing of products ( Agrow No 622, p 19). Following charges against those found to have had irregularities, a public defence of pesticide reprocessing activities was made by four industry associations ( Agrow No 623, p 16).