By Nelson Vasconcelos, O Globo (Pirataria S / A) - 07/10/2004

A public civil suit filed by the Attorney General's Office in 2002, still in progress, deserves the attention of those concerned with piracy. Among other points, the action questions the usefulness of the system, adopted in our customs, which allows about 80% of imports to enter the country with automatic clearance. Full plate for various frauds.

It is the so-called automatic parameterized channel guidance system. It is a complicated name, a beautiful technocrat, but it has been a joy for hooligan importers since 1998, when the Federal Revenue Service instituted new customs inspection rules.

In the case in question, what happens, in summary, is that imports are directed to four channels, from the delivery of the Import Declaration by the importer. The most? Nice? of these channels is green, which does not even require an examination of the documentation of importers and their cargo. The other three channels in the system (yellow, red and gray) are more stringent, in their own way, and still subject to cheating.

The biggest problem, says attorney José Augusto Vagos, is that 80% of imports go directly to the green channel. For the malicious importer, it is a temptation, since his cargo with some kind of irregularity has an 80% chance of falling into the green channel. As is common, future profit is worth the risk of being eventually discovered, eventually processed and other eventualities.

? The big point of this issue is to attack the wholesale. Did this type of inspection mean that a large volume of imported products is no longer actually verified? says Vagos. ? It is clear that Siscomex is necessary because it speeded up the import process, contributed to lower the Brazil Cost by reducing the time spent in ports, etc. But, in addition to being agile, the system has to be efficient. Inspecting efficiently is a constitutional dictate. This is the point of the public civil action filed by the Attorney's Office.

Vagos says that, in consultation with tax auditors, it became clear that, even when there are suspicions about certain loads, nothing can be done. Anyone trying to inspect something that has followed the green channel is at risk of being prosecuted for abuse of authority. Lucky for the importer of pirated and related products. Especially because, in an improbable customs review, it is very difficult for imported products to be located after they have entered the country. Worse, the documentation for them will also be gone ...

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And look how interesting: it is known that there are importers who undervalue their cargo. They claim to have disbursed $ 100 for something that actually cost $ 1 million.

Well, this device directly influences the result of the trade balance. In times of beautiful surpluses, is it really in the interest of the authorities to tighten up supervision and, suddenly, discover that we are importing more than is convenient for the balance result? A basic make-up doesn't hurt.

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As is known, what is not lacking in the country are the so-called loopholes in the legislation. Another normative instruction from the IRS, also from 1998, says that the clearance of imports is automatic? In anomalous cases ?. But what these "anomalous cases" mean has not been defined ... According to auditors, this instruction has already been used by several importers to clear their cargoes automatically.

DEBATE: It will be next Wednesday, October 13, at 9:30 am, the seminar? Piracy and social responsibility ?. Location: Fecomércio Auditorium, Rua Marquês de Abrantes 99, Flamengo. Registration: (21) 3138-1418. Limited places.