Source: JC Online - Recife / PE - EVERYDAY - 15/05/2010

On April 23, the National Secretary of Justice, Romeu Tuma Jr, assumed the presidency of the National Council to Combat Piracy. Only 19 days later he was removed from office after the newspaper O Estado de S Paulo revealed his relationship with Li Kwok Kwen, one of the leaders of the Chinese mafia. The "friend" of the mobster commanded the body responsible for solving one of the most complicated problems in the country.

All the data involving this "sector" is fuzzy, but estimates indicate that Brazil lost US $ 20 billion to piracy last year, in taxes not collected and losses for companies, according to the Brazilian Association to Combat Counterfeiting (ABCF) . A survey by the Trade Federation (Fecomércio-RJ) found that almost half (46%) of Brazilians admit that they bought fake products in 2009. Most know that piracy causes unemployment (63%) and finances crime (69%). Still, the price is decisive: 94% buy because it is cheaper.

If smuggling and other activities surrounding illegal trade are included, the informal economy generates R $ 850 billion per year, or 30% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to the Brazilian Institute of Ethics in Competition (Etco).

Piracy was defined by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) as the crime of the century. According to the International Chamber of Commerce, piracy moves about 7% of world trade, or US $ 600 billion, surpassing the US $ 360 billion of drug trafficking.

"The street vendor is just the weakest link in a very powerful mafia," said Etco president André Franco Montoro Filho. In his assessment, everyone is affected: companies suffer losses, jobs are closed and the consumer is left without guarantee and protection.

Despite this, it is difficult to combat piracy in Brazil. The first reason is corruption. The second is the extension of borders and the lack of enforcement. The contingent of the Federal Revenue in all Brazilian ports is similar to the number of inspectors in the Port of Hamburg, in Germany, where there are 3 thousand employees. Other factors that hinder the fight against counterfeiting are the low purchasing power of consumers, culture and even technological innovation. The internet makes life easier for people, but also for pirates. “The best way is to stop at the port. Once it enters, it becomes more difficult ”, says Luiz Claudio Garé, legal consultant for the Brand Protection Group, which brings together companies such as Bic, Nike and Chanel.

One of the most frequent frauds in ports is to load the bottom of the container with undeclared product. It is complicated to inspect, because it takes a day to unload a container, says the coordinator of the commercial defense area of ​​the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp), Abrão Neto. Only 5% of containers undergo physical verification.

MADE IN CHINA - It is estimated that 80% of the fake products come from China, Korea and Paraguay. In other words, this “industry” barely generates employment in the country. “In China, there is a piracy industry. In Brazil, it is imported ”, said the executive director of the Coalition of Brazilian Companies, Diego Bonomo.

ABCF warns, however, that items such as clothes and shoes are already being pirated in the country. According to the organization, Nova Serrana (MG) produces a lot of counterfeit sneakers, while Apucarana (PR) is the “capital” of fake hats and t-shirts. “Pirated product today is also made in Brazil”, says the director of ABCF, Rodolpho Ramazzini.

The list of products that suffer from piracy is long: auto parts, fuels, cigarettes, electronics, cosmetics, clothing, tennis, medicine, as well as CDs, DVDs and software According to ABCF, auto parts is the sector that has the most losses, about US $ 3 billion, followed by fuels, with US $ 2 billion.

AROUND THE WORLD - In volume, CDs and DVDs are champions. If the products purchased by Brazilians between 2006 and 2009 were placed side by side, the queue would reach 47,4 thousand kilometers, enough to go around the world, says Fecomércio / RJ.

Following the increase in computer sales, Brazil became the fifth pirated software market in the world in 2009. Research by the Software Business Alliance (BAS) showed that the illegal market in the country almost doubled and reached US $ 2,25 billion. But there was also an improvement. As the legal market grew more than the illegal, the percentage of use of pirated software fell from 64% in 2005 to 56% in 2009. The coordinator of the anti-piracy group of the Brazilian Association of Software Companies (Abes), Antonio Eduardo Mendes, attributes the drop in educational and repressive actions and the increase in the sale of computers through formal channels, which reduced the number of “assembled” computers.

One of the most dangerous targets is the medicine. It is not a generic, but a stolen, poorly formulated or even without effect drug. The main source is India, and the usual victims are Viagra and contraceptives. But there was also a “sophistication”. Even fake cancer drugs have been seized.

Since 1995, Brazil has passed 11 laws to defend intellectual property. The problem is their application. Sector representatives complain that the sentences are lighter than in other countries. "The war is consumer awareness", says APCM executive director, Antonio Borges Filho.