Countries › Paraguay › Guide › 12. Sectors › Crop protection, seeds and plant health in Paraguay: SENAVE registrations, agrochemical rules, buffer strips and plant variety rights
Crop protection, seeds and plant health in Paraguay: SENAVE registrations, agrochemical rules, buffer strips and plant variety rights
Argentina. For full detail on Argentina, go to The Argentine Thread.
Last verified: 2026-10-28 · Status: Stable
Paraguay's grain and oilseed economy is policed by one agency, the Servicio Nacional de Calidad y Sanidad Vegetal y de Semillas (SENAVE), which authorises plant product, seed, pesticide and fertiliser imports, issues export phytosanitary certificates and keeps the registers every agribusiness must join. Pesticide companies, advisers, laboratories and products must register with SENAVE (five year registrations for companies, indefinite product registrations with an annual fee), restricted products are sold only on a 60 day agronomic prescription, and spraying must respect buffer strips of 200 metres for aerial and 100 metres for ground application near people and water. New plant varieties can be protected for 15 to 20 years, farmers may keep seed for their own use, test data for new pesticide molecules is protected for five years, and SENAVE fines run from 50 to 10,000 daily minimum wages, with no export certificate while a sanction is unpaid.
USD figures use PYG 5,868.31 per US dollar, the Banco Central del Paraguay reference quotation in the planilla for Wednesday 28 October 2026. Amounts set in daily minimum wages (jornales) use PYG 117,077 and those in monthly minimum wages use PYG 3,044,000, both in force since 1 July 2026 under MTESS Resolution 670/2026. Conversions are for orientation only.
Key facts
| Minimum SENAVE fine | 50 daily minimum wagesLey 2459/2004 art. 26, as of 2026-10-28 · in force |
|---|---|
| Maximum SENAVE fine | 10,000 daily minimum wagesLey 2459/2004 art. 26, as of 2026-10-28 · in force |
| Prescription of infractions under SENAVE laws | 2 yearsLey 2459/2004 art. 24, as of 2026-10-28 · in force |
| Validity of company, professional and laboratory pesticide registrations (renewable) | 5 yearsLey 3742/2009 art. 19, as of 2026-10-28 · in force |
| Validity of a definitive pesticide product registration | Indefinite, annual maintenance fee Ley 3742/2009 art. 20, as of 2026-10-28 · in force |
| Buffer strip for aerial spraying from settlements, public places and water courses | 200 metresLey 3742/2009 art. 70, as of 2026-10-28 · in force |
| Buffer strip for ground spraying from settlements and water courses | 100 metresLey 3742/2009 art. 71, as of 2026-10-28 · in force |
| Validity of an agronomic prescription | 60 daysLey 3742/2009 art. 45, as of 2026-10-28 · in force |
| Test data protection for new chemical entities | 5 yearsLey 3519/2008 art. 3, as of 2026-10-28 · in force |
| Breeder's title term | 15 to 20 yearsLey 385/1994 art. 30, as of 2026-10-28 · in force |
| Farmer saving protected seed for own use | Allowed Ley 385/1994 art. 35, as of 2026-10-28 · in force |
The rule
1. SENAVE and its powers. SENAVE is an autonomous public law entity linked to the Executive through the Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería, formed by merging the former plant protection, seeds and cotton and tobacco control offices. It applies Ley 123/1991 on plant protection and Ley 385/1994 on seeds, and the international agreements on plant health, seeds, plant variety protection and biotech plants. Among its functions it authorises and inspects imports of plant products, seeds, pesticides, fertilisers and soil amendments at entry points; certifies plant health and quality for exports and seed quality for domestic sale; is the only body that can declare and report a pest situation, pest free areas and quarantines; controls the synthesis, formulation, splitting, storage and sale of pesticides and fertilisers; licenses vehicles transporting pesticides and storage and sale establishments; and sets and collects service fees. SENAVE may inspect farms, plants and warehouses, and infractions prescribe after two years.
Cost to do it: Service fees as set by SENAVE under art. 9 z); the law sets no amounts.
Example: A soybean exporter needs a SENAVE phytosanitary certificate for each export lot; a fertiliser importer needs SENAVE authorisation and inspection at the border post. / A US$10 million grain shipment cannot leave without SENAVE certification, so traders build its inspection into loading schedules.Ley Nº 2459/2004, crea el Servicio Nacional de Calidad y Sanidad Vegetal y de Semillas (SENAVE), Art. 1 to 3, 7 to 9, 23 and 24, 2004-10-04 official text · verified 2026-10-28
Cost to do it: Service fees as set by SENAVE under art. 9 z); the law sets no amounts.
Example: A soybean exporter needs a SENAVE phytosanitary certificate for each export lot; a fertiliser importer needs SENAVE authorisation and inspection at the border post. / A US$10 million grain shipment cannot leave without SENAVE certification, so traders build its inspection into loading schedules.Ley Nº 2459/2004, crea el Servicio Nacional de Calidad y Sanidad Vegetal y de Semillas (SENAVE), Art. 1 to 3, 7 to 9, 23 and 24, 2004-10-04 official text · verified 2026-10-28
2. SENAVE sanctions. SENAVE sanctions infringers according to gravity with a warning, a fine, confiscation and suspension or cancellation of the relevant registration, separately or together. Fines equal 50 to 10,000 daily minimum wages, graded by gravity. For serious infractions and repeat offences, the company, its legal representative and its technical manager can be sanctioned jointly. SENAVE will not issue a phytosanitary export certificate or an import permit for plant products, seeds, pesticides or fertilisers to anyone with unserved sanctions. Appeals and court actions before the Tribunal de Cuentas do not suspend precautionary measures or decisions affecting human, animal or plant health or food safety.
Cost to do it: Fines from 50 daily minimum wages, PYG 5,853,850 (about US$998) to 10,000 daily minimum wages, PYG 1,170,770,000 (about US$199,507).
Example: An agro dealer selling an unregistered herbicide faces a fine between PYG 5,853,850 and PYG 1,170,770,000, and while it remains unpaid it cannot get import permits. / The fine range is about US$998 to US$199,507; the export certificate block can cost far more for a trader in harvest season.Ley Nº 2459/2004, crea el SENAVE, Art. 24 to 27, 29 and 31, 2004-10-04 official text · verified 2026-10-28
Cost to do it: Fines from 50 daily minimum wages, PYG 5,853,850 (about US$998) to 10,000 daily minimum wages, PYG 1,170,770,000 (about US$199,507).
Example: An agro dealer selling an unregistered herbicide faces a fine between PYG 5,853,850 and PYG 1,170,770,000, and while it remains unpaid it cannot get import permits. / The fine range is about US$998 to US$199,507; the export certificate block can cost far more for a trader in harvest season.Ley Nº 2459/2004, crea el SENAVE, Art. 24 to 27, 29 and 31, 2004-10-04 official text · verified 2026-10-28
3. Pesticide registrations. Ley 3742 sets the registration and control regime for agricultural pesticides from entry into the country through synthesis, formulation, splitting, transport, storage, labelling, sale, advertising, application and disposal of waste and empty containers. SENAVE keeps registers in four categories: A, companies (synthesis, formulation, splitting, import and export, storage, transport, representation and sale, commercial application by air or ground, container recycling and efficacy testing); B, professionals (agronomists responsible for registration, trade and use advice; chemists responsible for product quality); C, laboratories accredited in Paraguay by the Organismo Nacional de Acreditación; and D, products (experimental, provisional for declared emergencies, definitive and export only). Company, professional and laboratory registrations last five years, renewable. Experimental product registrations last two years, renewable once, and the product cannot be sold; provisional ones last while the emergency lasts; definitive and export registrations are indefinite with an annual maintenance fee. Registration holders must report any change in the data filed within 60 days, and filed documents are confidential except for health or environmental protection.
Cost to do it: Registration fees and the annual maintenance fee for definitive registrations are set by SENAVE.
Example: A foreign agrochemical company setting up an import and distribution subsidiary registers the company in category A.4 and A.7, its agronomist in B.1 and each product in category D.3, and renews the company registration every five years. / A product line worth US$2 million a year in sales keeps its definitive registration indefinitely as long as the annual maintenance fee is paid.Ley Nº 3742/2009, de control de productos fitosanitarios de uso agrícola, Art. 1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 13, 19 and 20, 2009-12-10 official text · verified 2026-10-28
Cost to do it: Registration fees and the annual maintenance fee for definitive registrations are set by SENAVE.
Example: A foreign agrochemical company setting up an import and distribution subsidiary registers the company in category A.4 and A.7, its agronomist in B.1 and each product in category D.3, and renews the company registration every five years. / A product line worth US$2 million a year in sales keeps its definitive registration indefinitely as long as the annual maintenance fee is paid.Ley Nº 3742/2009, de control de productos fitosanitarios de uso agrícola, Art. 1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 13, 19 and 20, 2009-12-10 official text · verified 2026-10-28
4. Prescriptions, buffer strips and pesticide sanctions. Products whose toxicological class requires it may be sold only on an agronomic prescription issued by a SENAVE registered technical adviser, in two parts (prescription and application method) and in triplicate; it is valid for 60 days, the shop keeps it for two years with the invoice number, and the adviser keeps records for two years. The employer is responsible for following the adviser's recommendations and supplying operators with the prescribed products and safety equipment. Aerial spraying requires a 200 metre buffer strip from any human settlement, school, health post, church, square, public place and water course. Ground application requires 100 metres from settlements and public places and 100 metres from any natural water course, and fields next to inhabited local roads need a live barrier at least five metres wide and two metres high or, without one, a 50 metre strip. Breaches are sanctioned with a warning for minor cases, fines of 100 to 10,000 daily minimum wages, suspension or cancellation for repeat offences, and confiscation of products sold unregistered or brought in without SENAVE authorisation or inspection.
Cost to do it: Fines from 100 daily minimum wages, PYG 11,707,700 (about US$1,995) to 10,000 daily minimum wages, PYG 1,170,770,000 (about US$199,507); planting and keeping live barriers is a farm cost.
Example: A soybean farm bordering a village school may not spray by air within 200 metres of it, and with ground sprayers must stay 100 metres away; along an inhabited local road without a live barrier it must leave 50 metres unsprayed. / On a 1,000 hectare field with 2 km of frontage on an inhabited road, a 50 metre unsprayed strip takes 10 hectares out of chemical treatment unless a live barrier is planted.Ley Nº 3742/2009, de control de productos fitosanitarios de uso agrícola, Art. 37, 38, 40 to 45, 70, 71 and 75, 2009-12-10 official text · verified 2026-10-28
Cost to do it: Fines from 100 daily minimum wages, PYG 11,707,700 (about US$1,995) to 10,000 daily minimum wages, PYG 1,170,770,000 (about US$199,507); planting and keeping live barriers is a farm cost.
Example: A soybean farm bordering a village school may not spray by air within 200 metres of it, and with ground sprayers must stay 100 metres away; along an inhabited local road without a live barrier it must leave 50 metres unsprayed. / On a 1,000 hectare field with 2 km of frontage on an inhabited road, a 50 metre unsprayed strip takes 10 hectares out of chemical treatment unless a live barrier is planted.Ley Nº 3742/2009, de control de productos fitosanitarios de uso agrícola, Art. 37, 38, 40 to 45, 70, 71 and 75, 2009-12-10 official text · verified 2026-10-28
5. Test data protection for pesticides. Where the plant health authority requires undisclosed information that reflects significant technical and economic effort to register a product with a new chemical entity not previously registered in Paraguay or any other country, that information is protected against unfair commercial use and may not be disclosed for five years from its filing. Protection ends if the information falls into the public domain anywhere, and SENAVE may still use confidential data as a reference to determine equivalence for registration and to protect health or the environment. Unfair use gives the owner civil actions.
Cost to do it: No fee in the law.
Example: A company registering a new active ingredient in March 2027 gets protection of its study dossier until March 2032, but generics can still register equivalents using SENAVE's equivalence determination. / A US$5 million toxicology dossier for a new molecule is protected for five years from filing, not from registration.Ley Nº 3519/2008, de protección de los datos de prueba para la aprobación de productos fitosanitarios, Art. 3, 6, 7 and 8, 2008-06-25 official text · verified 2026-10-28
Cost to do it: No fee in the law.
Example: A company registering a new active ingredient in March 2027 gets protection of its study dossier until March 2032, but generics can still register equivalents using SENAVE's equivalence determination. / A US$5 million toxicology dossier for a new molecule is protected for five years from filing, not from registration.Ley Nº 3519/2008, de protección de los datos de prueba para la aprobación de productos fitosanitarios, Art. 3, 6, 7 and 8, 2008-06-25 official text · verified 2026-10-28
6. Seeds and plant variety rights. The law promotes plant breeding and seed production and quality control and protects breeders' rights. Commercial use of a variety requires entry in the Registro Nacional de Cultivares Comerciales; seed producers must register in the Registro Nacional de Productores de Semillas, sponsored by and with a permanent technical manager who is a registered agronomist or forestry engineer, and only registered varieties may enter the certified or controlled seed production systems. New varieties can be entered in the Registro Nacional de Cultivares Protegidos; a variety is not new if sold with the breeder's consent in Paraguay, or abroad for more than six years for vines and trees or four years for other species, before the application. Foreign breeders have the same rights as nationals. A favourable assessment leads to a breeder's title valid for 15 to 20 years according to species, with 12 months of priority from an application in a country with an agreement with Paraguay. Protection does not cover experimental use or breeding new varieties, and a farmer who saves seed of a protected variety for his own use, or uses or sells the harvest as raw material or food, does not infringe. Buyers of seed that does not match its label can claim back the price and planting and crop costs; seed law infractions prescribe after six years.
Cost to do it: Registration costs are set in SENAVE service fees; a registered agronomist or forestry engineer must sponsor each producer registration.
Example: A seed company protecting a new soybean variety gets a breeder's title for 15 to 20 years, but a farmer who buys its seed once may keep part of the harvest to sow his own fields the next season. / A breeder licensing a variety for US$5 per bag earns nothing on farm saved seed, which shapes royalty models in Paraguay.Ley Nº 385/1994, de semillas y protección de cultivares, as amended by Ley Nº 2459/2004, Ley 385 art. 1, 11, 25, 30, 33 to 35, 40 (text of Ley 2459 art. 43), 44 to 49, 91 and 94, 1994-08-11 official text · verified 2026-10-28 · changed: Ley 2459/2004 art. 43 rewrote art. 40 so foreign breeders can register varieties with equal rights, art. 42 transferred the seed law powers of the Ministry to SENAVE, and art. 45 repealed art. 7 to 10, 38 f) and 81 to 87 of Ley 385.
Cost to do it: Registration costs are set in SENAVE service fees; a registered agronomist or forestry engineer must sponsor each producer registration.
Example: A seed company protecting a new soybean variety gets a breeder's title for 15 to 20 years, but a farmer who buys its seed once may keep part of the harvest to sow his own fields the next season. / A breeder licensing a variety for US$5 per bag earns nothing on farm saved seed, which shapes royalty models in Paraguay.Ley Nº 385/1994, de semillas y protección de cultivares, as amended by Ley Nº 2459/2004, Ley 385 art. 1, 11, 25, 30, 33 to 35, 40 (text of Ley 2459 art. 43), 44 to 49, 91 and 94, 1994-08-11 official text · verified 2026-10-28 · changed: Ley 2459/2004 art. 43 rewrote art. 40 so foreign breeders can register varieties with equal rights, art. 42 transferred the seed law powers of the Ministry to SENAVE, and art. 45 repealed art. 7 to 10, 38 f) and 81 to 87 of Ley 385.
| Application | Protected place | Minimum strip |
|---|---|---|
| Aerial | Settlements, schools, health posts, churches, squares, public places and water courses | 200 metres |
| Ground | Settlements, schools, health posts, churches, squares and public places | 100 metres |
| Ground | Any natural water course | 100 metres |
| Ground, next to an inhabited local road | Road | Live barrier 5 metres wide and 2 metres high, or 50 metres without it |
Pesticide buffer strips (Ley 3742/2009 art. 70 and 71)
Worked example
- Agrochemical distributor: a new importer registers the company (five years), its responsible agronomist and its products with SENAVE, pays the annual maintenance fee on each definitive registration and sells restricted products only against 60 day prescriptions it archives for two years. One unregistered product found in its warehouse can be confiscated and fined at 100 to 10,000 daily minimum wages, PYG 11,707,700 to PYG 1,170,770,000 (about US$1,995 to US$199,507).
- Grain exporter: any unserved SENAVE sanction blocks phytosanitary export certificates and import permits (Ley 2459 art. 29), so paying or contesting a fine quickly matters during harvest.
Step by step
- Incorporate locally and register the company with SENAVE in the right Ley 3742 categories before importing, storing, transporting or selling pesticides or fertilisers.
- Appoint a registered agronomist as technical adviser (category B.1) and, for formulators, a registered chemist (B.2).
- Register each product: experimental (two years, field trials, no sales), then definitive; plan for confidential dossiers and the five year data protection for new molecules.
- For seed businesses, register varieties in the commercial register, the company in the seed producers register and, for new varieties, apply for the breeder's title.
- Request SENAVE import authorisation for each consignment and phytosanitary certificates for each export lot.
- Train applicators on buffer strips and prescriptions and keep application records.
Common traps
- An unserved SENAVE sanction blocks all import permits and export certificates until it is cleared (Ley 2459 art. 29).
- Appeals do not suspend SENAVE measures that affect health or food safety (art. 31), so confiscations and closures apply while litigation runs.
- Company, legal representative and technical manager can be sanctioned jointly for serious or repeat infractions (Ley 2459 art. 27).
- Data protection runs five years from filing and only for molecules new in Paraguay and the world; SENAVE may use the data to approve equivalents.
- Farm saved seed is lawful under Ley 385 art. 35, so seed royalties need contracts or technology fees rather than reliance on the breeder's title alone.
- Plant health rules interact with Argentina in border trade and Mercosur sanitary harmonisation; for the Argentine side of plant health and seed rules see The Argentine Thread guide.
Sources
- Ley 2459/2004, creates SENAVE (BACN)
- Ley 3742/2009, agricultural pesticides (BACN)
- Ley 3519/2008, test data protection for pesticides (BACN)
- Ley 385/1994, seeds and plant varieties (BACN)
- MTESS Resolution 670/2026, minimum wage
- Banco Central del Paraguay, exchange rate planilla
Related pages
- sectors/livestock-meat-and-animal-health
- sectors/biofuels-biodiesel-and-ethanol
- trade/importing-and-exporting
- trade/mercosur-and-trade-agreements
- regulation/regulation-essentials
- https://theargentinethread.com/guide/
- /country/paraguay/
- /calendar/
- Live dashboard
Related: Paraguay country profile · live dashboard · central bank and release calendar · our posts on X
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