Selo Pernambuco Mais Sustentável: proposta de certificação para produtos primários in natura de origem vegetal no Estado de Pernambuco

Abstract

The food market seeks to create increasingly efficient mechanisms that guarantee the final quality of the product, compliance with the sanitary standards required by the inspection agencies, and the mitigation of the impacts generated to the environment. Therefore, this certification proposal has two important focuses. The first one concerns the inclusion of the sustainability issue in the agricultural activity of the state of Pernambuco, by determining the sustainability index through the MESMIS methodology (Management Systems Evolution Framework Incorporating Sustainability Indicators) of the certified production chains, corroborating the principles of the 2030 Agenda. The second establishes as a regulation the compliance with mandatory and recommendable criteria formulated from the analysis of the organic product legislations of Brazil, China, Argentina, Chile, Canada, and the European Community, in addition to the environmental legislations of Pernambuco and Brazil, taking into account the legal requirements stipulated by law. In the context of the environmental certifications, the GlobalG.A.P, which operates in Brazil in the vegetal sector in the production of fruits, the ABR certification linked to the Responsible Brazilian Cotton Program, and the FSC certification, which operates in the forestry area, were included, making up a total of 75 mandatory items and 25 recommendable items related to all the documents analyzed. The inclusion of organic and environmental certifications and legislation aims to bring practices already consolidated and applied in other production models, inserting the principles of Good Agricultural Practices GAP, socio environmental responsibility, and forest preservation in the state's production units. The certification proposal also brings as a criterion the withdrawal of the use of pesticides in the production process, not being allowed the use of these substances at any stage of production. The certification was conceived in the modality by audit and with the proposal of insertion in the activities of the agricultural defense body of the state of Pernambuco, currently responsible for the state Phytosanitary Certification. Therefore, the present work developed the Pernambuco Mais Sustentável seal with the purpose of certifying in natura primary products of vegetable origin in the state of Pernambuco, having as technical products the creation of the draft normative instruction with the guidelines for the certification, the logo referring to the seal of conformity, the elaboration of the guide for the use of the brand, and the draft of the ordinance with the proposal for the creation of the certification.