Startups: how to become accredited at MAPA for tests on agricultural products?

Recently, MAPA (Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply) accredited the PlantCare Experimental Station, for tests of agronomic effectiveness and practicality of agricultural products in the Temporary Special Registration (RET) II and III phases.

With this measure, the startup was authorized to evaluate pesticides from national or imported companies before they reach the Brazilian market.

“This is a seal of approval for us to conduct the tests based on our technical and scientific competence, dedicating ourselves daily to providing the best service to the clients and partners of the agribusiness”, emphasize the partners and agronomist engineers, phytopathologists Caroline Donadon and Simone Brand. The measure opens space for other institutions (startups or public companies) that, when they become accredited, can carry out research and experimentation for submitting registration and alteration claims.

What is this accreditation?

Accreditation is an act of the MAPA that grants permission to institutions (public or private companies) to carry out research and experimentation for submitting registration and alteration requests, referring to the conduct and issuance of different reports of efficiency and agronomic and practicality. phytotoxicity, in addition to field trials for the purpose of studying pesticide residues and the like.

For Danilo Tadashi Tagami Kamimura, head of the Agricultural Defense Division of SFA-SP, the registration of new products, innovations, changes in registration, pesticides and the like requires prior research regarding agronomic efficiency, phytotoxicity and waste. “These trials can only be conducted at an accredited establishment,” he adds.

According to Kamimura, the accreditation has an indefinite validity period and several researches can be carried out at the experimental station. “It is worth informing that any physical or documentary alterations must be communicated to MAPA within 30 days”, he says.

In addition, if the entity wishes to interrupt the research activity, for example, the decision must also be communicated to the ministry.

Registration rules to accredit a startup for this purpose

Do you have a startup and also have the objective of being accredited to carry out tests of agronomic effectiveness and practicality of agricultural products?

According to MAPA, the rules for accreditation are the same for every institution that wants to operate in the sector - a large or public company or even a startup - as long as the requirements described in SDA Normative Instruction 36/2009 and its amendments are met.

For research or experimentation with pesticides or the like in Brazil, there is a need for the product to be researched to be registered for this purpose with the responsible federal agencies.

Thus, whether in the laboratory or in the field, they must be previously evaluated and have the Temporary Special Registry (RET), which can confer the right to import or produce the quantity of product necessary for research and experimentation. Kamimura explains that the aforementioned standard can be obtained on this website of the Ministry of Agriculture.

“As it is research with pesticides without registration, whose effects on phytotoxicity and residues may be unknown, the safety rules are very specific and undergo analysis by agricultural auditors who verify that the conditions of the establishment meet the legal and safety requirements ”, Complements the head of the Agricultural Defense Division at SFA-SP.

Strategic and essential measure for the development of national agribusiness

The tests and reports conducted by the recently accredited research station will be important for agribusiness as a whole as they assist MAPA in the inspection of companies, guaranteeing the quality of the inputs that will be applied to the cultivated plants.

The accreditation also makes it possible to carry out field trials with pesticides to analyze agronomic efficiency and feasibility of products that are in the process of being registered with MAPA, that is, they are not yet registered in Brazil.

In addition, Kamimura explains that entities accredited for this purpose represent the beginning of the registration chain for a new pesticide product. "It is at this point that new molecules are researched, which are more efficient and less toxic". And he adds that it is in the experimental stations that new biological pesticides are researched. “Innovation is found in experimental stations. It is up to the accreditation to authorize the research of these products, allowing them to be carried out in a safe and supervised place”.