Fundamental principle of sustainability and the unconstitutional tax exemptions to pesticides

Abstract

This article aims at identifying tax exemptions for pesticides in Brazil and analyzing the
(un)constitutionality of these tax waivers, considering the fundamental rights to health,
to adequate food and to an ecologically balanced environment. The principles of precaution,
prevention, polluter-pays and selectivity provide subsidies for the adoption of another model of taxation and governance aligned with the public interest. Green taxation, which is
already a reality in countries that recognize the risks and damages resulting from the use and
consumption of pesticides for humans and ecosystems, emerges as a means of implementing
the fundamental principle of sustainability. The conception of Ecological Justice and
its three elements shows parameters for governance, for the decision-making process and for
the truly sustainable development model, in which this adjective is not considered isolately.
The admission of Federal Public Defender’s Office as custos culnerabilis or amicus curiae in
the Direct Action of Unconstitutionality nº 5553 ensures the representation of millions of
vulnerable people, directly or indirectly affected by tax exemptions to pesticides and, concomitantly,
will confer democratic legitimacy to the decision of the Federal Supreme Court.