GEO Brasil - UNEP

criteria for the creation and management of
conservation units, thus establishing means and
encouranging effective participation of society. The
process becomes more democratic with the
ultimate purpose of showing the Brazilian society
understand how valuable these areas are and decide
to ensure their protection once and for all. However,
the draft law for SNUC was discussed in the
National Congress for over eight years, and it has
not been regulated yet. This shows that the
government does not consider this tool to be a
priority.
b) Environmental Crimes Law
Environmental Crimes Law no. 9605, of the 13th of
February, 1998, was considered an important
advance toward the conservation of nature in Brazil.
The new law provided the Brazilian legal system
with well-defined penalties and sanctions in a clear
and objective way. It turned most actions that were
previously considered infractions into crimes. This
includes those contained in the Forest Code and
other legal documents. It corrected distortions in
the Hunting Code and established the penal
responsibility of corporations for environmental
infractions committed according to decisions made
by their legal or contractual representative or by
the board in the interest or for the benefit of their
organisation.
c) Biosecurity Law
Law 8.974 of January 1995 established the guidelines
for the control of activities and products resulting
from modern biotechnology and created the National
Technical Biosecurity Commission – CTNBio,
aiming at developing a national biosecurity policy
and establishing rules and regulations concerning
the activities involving genetically modified
organisms (GMOs). CTNBio is linked to the Ministry
of Science and Technology and made up of 36
members from the academic community, federal
government, business sector, consumer protection
departments, and the organisation for the protection
of workers’ health.
The Biosecurity Law establishes that supervising and
monitoring activities involving GMOs is a
responsibility of the supervision departments in the
Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture, and
the Ministry of the Environment within their scopes.
Issuing registration for products to be marketed or
released into the environment containing GMOs and
their derivatives is their responsibility too. In this
way, besides the usual control that products made
through other technologies are subject to, genetically
modified (transgenic) products will be subject to
additional control by CTNBio regarding the
biosecurity aspect. Despite the fact that its modern
format should favour exemption, CTNBio almost
always works with partial perspectives considering
the risks of releasing GMOs into the environment.
There are no independent studies on the ecological
impact of GMOs being carried out in Brazil, and
access to experimental crops is restricted by the
Company that holds the patent on the organism
planted.
d) Genetic Heritage Management
Up until the year 2000 there was no regulation on the
law regarding access to the genetic resources of
national biodiversity. Due to pressure from society
and events that seemed to uncontrollably lead the
country into bioprospecting that was harmful to
national interests. The government took on a drastic
course of action and issued a provisional measure
(no. 2.186-16). This blocked access to any kind of
Brazilian fauna or flora as a genetic resource. This
measure further restricted scientific development in
the area even more. Research and international cooperation
stopped, which resulted in an involuntary
and pernicious xenophobic process.
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