The Federal Government issued yesterday Provisional Ruling 1,186/2023, which supplements Law 12,873/2013 with important tools to ensure that the country effectively addresses phytosanitary or zoosanitary emergencies. The new legislation grants authority to the bodies of the Unified Agricultural and Livestock Health Care System – SUASA to adopt the following measures: I – epidemiological study or investigation; II – exceptional and temporary restriction of the movement of agricultural and livestock products and fomites by any logistical means within the national territory; III – exceptional and temporary restriction of international movement of agricultural and livestock products and fomites; IV – determination of containment, disinfection, pest control, treatment, and destruction measures applicable to agricultural and livestock products, equipment, and facilities, as well as vehicles in national and international transit in the country; and V – carrying out or ordering the compulsory implementation of phytosanitary and zoosanitary mitigation and control actions.
These measures must be based on scientific evidence and analyses of strategic agricultural defense information and will subject different actors in the agricultural and livestock sector supply chains to administrative, civil, and criminal liability. Additionally, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock may mobilize employees, covering their respective expenses incurred in agricultural defense operations, as well as hiring temporary personnel without a selection process to meet the needs arising from imminent risks to animal, plant, or human health, public calamity, environmental emergencies, phytosanitary, zoosanitary, or public health emergencies.
Furthermore, the Union is allowed to donate materials, equipment, and essential supplies for emergency response to other federal entities, regardless of the beneficiary’s compliance with the legal requirements for entering into agreements with the federal public administration.
These measures are essential for maintaining Brazil’s leading role in global food production.