Weaknesses of the Brazilian border strip were pointed out in a TCU audit and discussed in a public hearing

At a public hearing on the inspection and security of border areas in the country, representatives of tax auditors, tax inspectors, federal police officers and federal road police officers demanded an increase in the number of categories, the summoning of those approved in the reserve register, the payment of additional borders and wage readjustments to replace inflationary losses.

The hearing was promoted by the Financial Supervision and Control Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, at the request of Deputy Valtenir Pereira (PROS-MT). The objective was to discuss the results of an audit by the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) that identified weaknesses at the borders.

The TCU made recommendations to the federal government to integrate the actions of the various agencies that today act autonomously in the protection of borders, a strip of land of almost 16 thousand kilometers in length that covers 11 states.

One of the conclusions of TCU is that there is “no national policy that integrates all entities, with the identification of responsibilities and the reduction of overlaps and gaps in competences”.

 

The court also criticized the low level of investments and the lack of human, material and financial resources of the agencies involved, such as the lack of aircraft, communication systems, physical facilities and sniffer dogs. All of this, according to the auditors, creates favorable conditions for crimes such as drug and arms trafficking.

The results were presented by the Secretary of External Control of the Federal Audit Court in Mato Grosso do Sul, Carlos Sebastião Costa. "There is no public policy or program in the border budget", summarized the secretary.

According to him, the lack of integrated institutional policies for the region has even made it difficult to analyze budget resources for programs at the borders. “There is no program in the Budget for the region. The technicians had to search for data in several subprograms ”, he explained.

According to the audit, resources for the region are not properly executed. In 2014, the Budget foresaw R $ 2,7 billion, but only R $ 1 billion was spent.

One of the recommendations made by the auditors is that Congress regulates and transforms into law a policy for the border region - today based on the decrees of several ministries, which do not exchange information or act together.

Carlos Costa mentioned that the starting point for the discussion is a project in progress in the Chamber, the PL 6460/13, which proposes the establishment of a National Police for the Defense and Development of the Legal Amazon and the Frontier Strip.

Charges
Silvia Helena de Alencar Felismino, president of the National Union of Tax Analysts of the Federal Revenue (Sindireceita), pointed out a deficiency of inspectors at the borders, ports and airports in the country, which facilitates the entry and exit of illegal products, such as smuggling, weapons and drugs .

The union president gave as an example the North region, the largest in the country, where, according to her, only 69 analysts exercise this function.

“Another serious problem is the restriction on customs opening hours. It has to be 24 hours because we have to make ports competitive. This was defined in MP 595/12 (Ports Law), but it is not fulfilled ”, he said.

The Federal Revenue representative at the hearing, José Carlos de Araújo, General Coordinator of Customs Administration, rebutted the proposal. "Only at the port of Santos is there a customs duty open 24 hours a day," he said.

Flávio Werneck Meneguelli, from the National Federation of Federal Police, also criticized the low number and the lack of additional pay for police officers working at border posts.

According to him, in the 15 thousand kilometers of dry border less than a thousand federal police officers work. In ports, still according to the data presented by him at the hearing, there are less than one hundred.

The policeman said there was no incentive for agents and delegates working at border posts. “The border surcharge was approved two years ago by the Chamber and has not been implemented until today. People numbers are low because whoever is on the border earns the same as whoever works in Rio, Florianópolis and other cities ”, he said.

Alfredo Jorge Madeira Rosa, of the National Union of Tax Auditors of the Federal Revenue (Sindifisco) also defended the border surcharge. "This is fundamental to attract people to these positions, as well as the return of the permanence allowance, which will avoid pensions", he said.

The permanence allowance is an incentive that the federal government gives to the civil servant who has time for retirement but continues to work and thus does not need to contribute 11% to Social Security - in practice, a salary increase. The end of the allowance is foreseen in a provisional measure that is part of the government's fiscal adjustment.

Source: Home .