O Globo, August 18, 2004

By Eliane Oliveira *

BRASILIA and NEW YORK. The president of the National Union of Technicians of the Federal Revenue (Sindireceita), Reynaldo Puggi, made an alert yesterday, on the first day of the National Seminar on Intellectual Property: Brazil already occupies the fourth place in the world ranking of consumers of pirated products, losing only for China, Russia and Paraguay. As a result, approximately US $ 30 billion is not collected annually, the main consequence of which is the loss of two million jobs in the country.

 

Explaining that the figures are from the Piracy CPI, Puggi said that the Revenue is doing its part, having destroyed R $ 6 million of pirated articles in the first half of this year. The president of Sindireceita also stressed that, only in the sectors of beverages, cigarettes, tobacco and fuels, tax evasion in the country reaches R $ 6 million:

 

? We need to lower the rates of serious companies, create jobs and fight tax evasion. Thus, Brazil will have more respect and competitiveness in foreign relations and in the domestic market.

 

& Quot; NYT & quot; recalls threat of US retaliation

 

At the seminar, pressures were recalled, especially from the United States, for the Brazilian government to resort to tougher measures against piracy. A report published yesterday by the? New York Times? (? NYT?) Remembered that, in June, the Bush administration had given 90 days? ending at the end of September? for Brazil to act. Otherwise, it could lose billions of dollars in benefits from the General System of Preferences (SGP), which establishes import rates for developing countries.

 

The Brazilian government has not confirmed this version. But the secretary of Science and Technology, Francelino Grando, warned that any discussion in this sense must be dealt with at the World Trade Organization (WTO):

 

? We do not accept blackmail or threats from any country. Brazilian society is already aware of the importance of fighting piracy.

 

The? NYT? he highlighted the difficulty of retaliating against Brazil, which has an important role in global trade negotiations. For Jeffrey Schott, from the Institute of International Economics, the American government should not take such drastic measures, even to avoid souring the FTAA negotiations.

 

At the seminar, Briton John Newton, Interpol agent, defended a more intensive participation of domestic police. He said Interpol found that some terrorist groups benefit from this activity, citing Northern Ireland paramilitary groups, Albanian extremist groups and North African fundamentalists as examples. Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah would use counterfeit auto parts.

 

(*) With the? New York Times?