“It was a victory of common sense,” declared Goiás State Representative Lissauer Vieira (PSB) of the exclusion/buffer zone relocation by a 27 to 2 vote to veto Goiás legislation, redesignating distance for exclusion zones for aerial spraying to the original limits provided in the legislation of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAP). In the case of ground spraying, those buffer zones were changed to follow distances prescribed by the state forestry code. The vote took place at 4:15 pm on Wednesday (March 21) and the decision was approved by the State Department of Agriculture. This validated the department’s opinion that at the end of last year had resulted in a veto by Goiás Governor Marconi Perillo.
As a result, Article 11, State Law n. 19.423 / 16 was modified, reducing the minimum distances from exclusion areas for aviation up to 2,000 meters, as established by Normative Instruction No. 02/2008 of MAP; 500 meters from towns, cities, neighborhoods, water sources for people; and 250 meters from water bodies.
According to Representative Lissauer, the measure will save agriculture in Goiás from significant losses in food production, while still ensuring the security of the ecosystem and people. As the law was before, much of Goiás’s arable land could no longer be treated.
