Source: Diário de Cuiabá - 20/09/2012  

Auto parts, cigarettes, fuels, hygiene and cleaning materials and fashion items are copied and represent a health risk

Without the presence of a representative of the municipal administration of Cuiabá, the National Council for Combating Piracy and Offenses against Intellectual Property (CNCP) presented yesterday in the capital of Mato Grosso the project “Cidade Livre de Pirataria”, a practice considered criminal and which represents tax evasion of around $ 20 billion annually. 

In the list of pirated products you have everything. Among those with the highest number are auto parts, cigarettes, fuels, cleaning and hygiene materials and fashion items. But they still have DVDs, CDs, glasses and medicine. "In addition to brutal tax evasion, they are products that are harmful to consumer health and safety," warned Edson Vismona, president of the National Forum to Combat Piracy (FNCP).

An even greater risk when it comes to drugs. In the country, the fake or unregistered medicine market generates around R $ 13 billion or 30% of the total sold annually. The most targeted are those of high consumption, such as those of erectile dysfunction, obesity and anti-inflammatory drugs. However, they do not have a desired effect or can bring lethal substances.

Some products, such as video games, the illegality rate is 80%. "It does not meet Brazilian technical standards and feeds smuggling and embezzlement," he said. In the case of computers, there has been a reduction since 2005. The percentage of illegality dropped from 74% that year to 22% today.

In a partnership with the Ministry of Justice, the program encourages city halls to adopt mechanisms to combat and confront this type of crime. Yesterday, in the capital, 280 public agents from the Capital and Várzea Grande participated in a course, which among other subjects, addressed the differences between the original and counterfeit productions.

“Our interest is in the development of the municipality. Piracy does not generate development, does not generate formal employment, financial stability and does not give holidays or an INSS guarantee ”, the secretary of Urban Development of Várzea Grande, Flávia Moretti. In the city, one of the first actions to be developed will be awareness raising.

As in Várzea Grande, the sale of pirated products takes place in the open in the capital. Among the main ones are pirated DVDs and CDs. “I already bought it and I think almost everyone has already done it. The originals are much more expensive and the pirates are getting better, ”said Sandra Correa, 45.

The “Cidade Livre de Pirataria” is managed by the Brazilian Institute of Competitive Ethics (ETCO) and is part of the National Plan to Combat Piracy, launched in 2009 by the Ministry of Justice. Until then, São Paulo and Osasco (SP), Brasília (DF), Curitiba (PR), Rio de Janeiro (RJ) and Belo Horizonte (MG) joined the project.