Biossegurança e trânsito de animais na tríplice fronteira entre Brasil, Argentina e Paraguai

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation is to analyze the transit of pets accompanied by their guardians on the Iguazu Triple Border between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay from an interdisciplinary perspective. It seeks to understand the biopower exercised by states, analyze the right of guardians and animals to come and go, the new conceptions of family and the implications of recognizing animals as beings subject to legal protection and family members, as well as the formal and practical requirements for this displacement. The research is qualitative, focusing on the meanings attributed to the phenomena studied, as well as using bibliographical and documentary research and interviews with civil servants responsible for granting and checking the International Veterinary Certificate (CVI), a document required for the international transit of pets. The approach is comparative, making it possible to analyze the similarities and differences in the procedures adopted by the three countries. The dissertation is structured in four chapters, the first of which deals with the differentiation of the material and immaterial borders that permeate the subject, going through the evolution of philosophical understanding in relation to animals, including anthropocentrism, biocentrism and ecocentrism with their respective variables, the limits of humanity and animality and the biopower exercised in relation to species. The second chapter explores the recognition of the family through affection, the main legal norms for animal protection and the tension between the wording of the Civil Code, which recognizes animals as mere objects, and the Federal Constitution, which prohibits the adoption of cruel practices in relation to animals, and concludes with a debate on Bill 179/2023, which seeks formal recognition of the multi-species family. In the third chapter, the requirements for bringing pets into the three countries are presented, with a focus on documentary bureaucracy, which is complemented by interviews with the employees of Vigiagro at the Dry Port of Foz do Iguaçu. In the end, the tensions between biopower and the affective bonds between guardians and their pets are highlighted, as well as the mismatch between the new family configurations and the omission of current legislation. The divergence between the procedures adopted by the countries stands out, given that Paraguay has freer transit, Brazil has an intermediate stance and Argentina has greater bureaucratic rigor. Although disputed because they do not fully express the reality of the border, the official data collected indicates that documentary bureaucracy presents challenges to the transit of animals across the Triple Frontier, especially from the point of view of biosecurity. We therefore advocate freer transit, with the aim of protecting both human and animal rights, not limiting dignity to just one of the species.