Even with the economic crisis and the increase in the value of the dollar against the real, the entry of illegal goods into the country has not decreased. According to a survey by the National Forum Against Piracy, an organization that gathers dozens of sectors affected by smuggling, the problem has even worsened.

According to Folha de S. Paulo, the fault would be the lack of action by the federal government in border control and the increase in taxes by state administrations, such as that of São Paulo. Business associations started an advertising campaign accusing the government of collaborating with a chain that generates unemployment in Brazil.

The entities were expecting that with the high dollar and the reduction of consumption in the country they could help in reducing the entry of foreign products that are banned or that do not pay taxes. However, they point out that the lack of border controls and the increase in taxes on national products has made this illegal market even bigger.

For Edson Vismona, who coordinates the Forum, the tobacco and clothing industries, the most affected, made surveys last year that revealed an increase in the share of contraband products in their sectors.

According to the data, in the case of cigarettes, the illegal market already accounts for 32% of the official market (it was 30%). In clothing, it reached 14,2% (it was 12%). In these two sectors alone, illegal products moved R $ 33 billion in the country.

In 2015, the affected industries ran a major advertising campaign to ask the government to take action against piracy. In the calculations of these organizations, the country stops earning R $ 100 billion per year with the permission for the entry of illegal goods into the national territory.

According to Evandro Guimarães, who directs the NGO Etco, which works in actions by business sectors for competitive ethics, there were no necessary measures to combat this type of deviation in the country and this justifies the increase in the tone of advertisements against the government. "We are realizing that there is a lack of an aggressive policy, which makes the fiscal adjustment through the fight against illegalities", said Guimarães.

According to TCU Minister Augusto Nardes, rapporteur of the process, separately, some entities that operate in the sector presented their projects to him on how to act on the border, but the Civil House did not present the requested plan. "We are concerned because there is a lack of integration between public policies", concluded Nardes.

Source: Mato Grosso News (3/03)