Tereza Cristina leaves Agriculture Ministry with 1654 pesticides liberated during her term

“We did a lot with very little, President, because there was no corruption in your government”. On March 29, this was how the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, Tereza Cristina, said goodbye to the position, in a speech, next to Jair Bolsonaro. A great ally of the president and of the agribusiness agenda, Cristina left to run for the Senate in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul.

Since the beginning of her administration, which started on January 1, 2019, she tried to loosen the rules for pesticide approval. This administration has released 1654 new pesticide products, a record high.

The executive secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Marcos Montes, was announced as the new minister and took office on March 31. Pontes is former president of the Parliamentary Front for Agribusiness and federal representative for the PSD party in Minas Gerais. In a statement about the change, the Federal Government said that the new minister takes office “with a policy of continuity of the management implemented in the last three years”.