The Secretary of Homeland Security of the United States, Janet Napolitano, visited the City of São Paulo and followed the balance of integrated actions carried out in the city, which resulted in the seizure of 70 million illegal products valued at R $ 2 billion.

Received by the mayor of São Paulo, Gilberto Kassab, on July 12, the secretary learned details of the work carried out by the Integrated Security Management Office in the fight against piracy, smuggling and tax evasion in the city, coordinated by the Urban Security Secretariat. During the meeting, she proposed, on behalf of the American government, to deepen and formalize relations with the City of São Paulo, mainly in relation to security, tourism and trade issues.

One of the most important results of the meeting was the establishment of a direct dialogue with the authorities in Brazil, in order to work together on actions to combat illegal trade and the exchange of information, experiences and best practices.

The objective is to improve the work carried out in the municipality, which has become a reference for other cities in Brazil, establishing cooperation between the American government and the Committee to Combat Piracy, Smuggling and Tax Evasion. The actions include specialized training with agents who will go to the USA and American professionals who will come to São Paulo. The federal government, through the Federal Revenue Service and the Federal Police, will also participate in the understandings.

For Janet Napolitano, “São Paulo's commitment to fighting piracy is fantastic, considering the damage that illegal products cause to the public that consumes them. The volume of seizures, of 70 million illegal products valued at more than $ 1 billion, is an example for other cities and countries ”.

The American representative warned of the problem of counterfeiting pharmaceutical products, as well as the challenges of controlling the flow of illegal products at major events, speaking of the American experience with the 1994 World Cup and the Atlanta Olympics. The City of São Paulo, through integrated actions with the partners of the Security Office, is already carrying out actions in the city, with a view to the 2014 World Cup.

Representatives of the federal government (Ministry of Justice / CNCP), ETCO, Federal Police, Federal Revenue, state (State Revenue, Civil and Military Police), municipal (Urban Security, Subprefecture and GCM) and Brands were present at the meeting and Patents, who are members of the Committee to Combat Piracy, as well as representatives of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the United States Brazilian Mission in Brazil and the United States Consulate General in São Paulo.