For ETCO Institute, government is attentive in the fight against smuggling

By ETCO
03/10/2016

Border Control

Every year, about R $ 100 billion in illegal products enter the country. Entrepreneurs say, however, they see in the current government the “coordination of efforts” necessary to reduce the problem.

On a visit to the acting president, Michel Temer, the president of the Brazilian Institute of Ethics in Competition (Etco), Evandro Guimarães, on Thursday (28) expressed the entity's “satisfaction” with the government's policy in combating piracy, contraband, tax evasion and other “business transgressions”.

“The visit took place with the objective of recording the commitment and receptivity that the team of the current government has had to our suggestions and to the attentive attention to the possibility of combating these illicitudes that bring damage to the collection and important damage to the fair competition between products, ”said Evandro Guimarães.

The “conservative” estimate, according to him, is that the equivalent of R $ 100 billion in illegal products will enter the country every year. More than the loss of federal revenue from these products, which do not pay taxes, Evandro mentions another evil associated with smuggling: unfair competition with legalized companies, which creates unemployment and legal insecurity.

Willingness to listen

Although the challenge of circumventing this problem is “enormous”, says Evandro, the government of the incumbent president, Michel Temer, has demonstrated, in two and a half months, a willingness to listen to the affected companies and determined that the competent bodies act to create barriers to smuggling, with greater action by agencies such as the Federal Police, Highway and constant inspection by the Federal Revenue.

“[We have noticed that] the government is aware of the issue. The Ministry of Justice, the Federal Revenue Service and the areas that are interested in coordinating efforts to reduce this phenomenon. [The attention] is very great, it is very new and is very much welcomed ”, he evaluated.

Source: Blog do Planalto (28/07)