Recurrent: Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

Recurred resolution: R/0115/2023

In exercise of its right of access to public information, an environmental organization submitted an access request addressed to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, to obtain information on quantities of pesticides marketed, according to certain groups defined by European regulations and for certain years.

In the absence of a response, the requesting organization filed a complaint with the Council for Transparency and Good Governance. During the processing of the procedure, the requested Ministry issued a resolution in which it is resolved to grant access to the information, providing two tables with the information required for each of the requested indicators in which, however, some data of certain groups or categories are omitted.

The Council considers the claim in relation to the part of the information omitted, alluding to a previous pronouncement of the Council itself, in a similar matter initiated by the same environmental organization, on the grounds that the Ministry applies statistical confidentiality without justifying why such confidentiality is required, nor mentioning or explaining which personal data could be violated. Nor is it explained why certain data are provided, for the same substances, for some years, omitting others.