Overview
- La Libertad Avanza senators removed their signatures and the favorable Senate commissions' dictamen was lifted after public objections, a move that sources say took place on June 23.
- The draft, introduced by Senator Edith Terenzi, proposed a new Title XIV in the Penal Code to define 'ecocide' and to punish especially grave or irreversible environmental damage.
- The text would have allowed prison terms up to 25 years when a death resulted, created corporate criminal liability with heavy fines and suspended activities for up to 10 years, and treated 'irreversible' harm as final regardless of later remediation.
- Agroindustrial and food-industry groups including COPAL, the Consejo Agroindustrial Argentino and the Sociedad Rural Argentina argued the draft was vague and expansive, warning it criminalized negligence (an 'ecocidio culposo'), ignored remediation incentives and risked confiscatory fines that could halt regulated activity.
- Political leaders say they will pause the push to avoid legal uncertainty, seek technical fixes and hold sector consultations before reintroducing any environmental criminalization measure, a step that could shape how Argentina balances environmental accountability with protection for legal, regulated production.