This article provides a history of the creation of Brazil's federal law governing pesticide production, commerce and use. It begins with initiatives by environmental movements that led States to adopt pesticide control laws, thus helping put the issue on the federal agenda. It discusses major innovations and limitations to the law's enforcement and identifies the main attempts to deconstruct it, through bills aimed at suppressing the powers of public authorities to reduce adverse effects of pesticides on human health and the environment.193213230