Author: Gustavo Paul

Source: O Globo, 29/05/2009

BRASILIA. Like what it already did with computers in 2005, the government is studying the tax reduction of a product considered “symbolic” to increase its sales and thereby reduce the space for counterfeit products in the country.

Another measure under analysis is to give discounts to students when buying original products, to avoid the purchase of counterfeits.

- For that, the young man would present the student card - said the executive secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Luiz Paulo Barreto, also president of the National Council to Combat Piracy (CNCP).

These are some of the measures that must be implemented by the new National Plan to Combat Piracy, announced yesterday by the Ministry of Justice. According to Barreto, the product to have its rate reduced will still be decided and the issue will need to be screened by the Ministry of Finance.

For him, the success of the tax reduction of computers can be repeated. The so-called MP do Bem, from 2005, exempted computers with prices up to R $ 2.500 (desktops) and R $ 3 thousand (notebooks) from PIS / Cofins.

With prices on average 10% lower and more accessible credit, legal manufacturers have stolen an important slice of the so-called “gray market” - equipment assembled with contraband components.

- Although the sale of computers exploded, software piracy in Brazil fell 10% - said Barreto.

The Ministry of Justice announced 23 actions to be taken by 2012. The main objective is to convince consumers that buying a pirated product stimulates organized crime, damages public accounts and can cause health problems. The brand “Brasil Original - Buy this Attitude” will also be launched, to be displayed in packaging, stores, shopping centers and fairs, for example, to differentiate the original product from the counterfeit. A label with the new brand may be placed on products to draw consumer attention to the issue of piracy.

Partnerships with city halls will attack pirate deposits According to the Minister of Justice, Tarso Genro, who participated in the ceremony wearing a T-shirt with the new brand, the proposal is to show the citizen that the purchase of pirated products can turn against the consumer himself: - O combating this type of crime will not have results if we do not have a deep awareness of society.

Some measures involve partnerships with states and municipalities, such as Cidade Livre de Pirataria. According to the president of the Etco Institute, André Franco Montoro Filho, partnerships will be negotiated with the mayors of cities to attack places, warehouses and other places where counterfeit products exist and are sold. The program will have tests in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, Ribeirão Preto (SP) and Curitiba (PR).

The government estimates that it stops collecting $ 30 billion a year in taxes because of piracy. The balance of actions between 2004 and 2008 shows that R $ 4 billion in goods were seized, 64 special operations were carried out by the Federal Police, 1.050 people were arrested and 32.668 investigations were opened.