A BRIEF ANALYSIS OF THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR METHYL BROMIDE

Resumo

Many international conventions have been celebrated recently in an attempt to avoid or reduce the problems arising from advances in science and technology. In this context, in order to protect the environment, emerged the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer (1985) and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (1987), which provide control mechanisms for the production and consumption, for example, of methyl bromide, one of the most aggressive substances for the ozone layer in the world. However, article 2H, paragraph 6, of the Montreal Protocol brings exemptions for the abovementioned gas, which can be freely used for the exclusively purpose of quarantine and pre-shipment of goods for import and export in the international market. Nevertheless, through the Joint Instruction (Instrução Normativa Conjunta – INC) SDA/ANVISA/IBAMA nº 01/2002, Brazil edited rules more severe than the prohibitions prescribed by the Montreal Protocol and banned any use of methyl bromide after 31/12/2015, including the phytosanitary treatment. Considering the potential costs of this restriction for the public health and the Brazilian economy, recently it has been edited the Joint Instruction (Instrução Normativa Conjunta – INC) SDA/ANVISA/IBAMA nº 02/2015 simply to abrogate the previous norm for the sake of the referred exemptions. Thus, there is no violation of any international obligation assumed by Brazil.