Minister Nardes defends the creation of bilateral agreements to control the illegal entry of drugs and weapons

The Minister of TCU (Federal Court of Accounts) Augusto Nardes, the director general of the PRF (Federal Highway Police), Renato Dias, and the mediator and journalist of Folha Fernando Canzian, during the seminar sponsored by ETCO, in Brasilia - Keiny Andrade / Folhapress
Minister of TCU (Federal Audit Court) Augusto Nardes, director general of PRF (Federal Highway Police), Renato Dias, and Folha Fernando Canzian mediator and journalist, during the seminar sponsored by ETCO, in Brasilia - Keiny Andrade / Folhapress

“Anyone who can build a wall [at the border] does it, we are unable to build a wall of 24.000 kilometers, including the maritime region. So it has to be through dialogue, ”said Nardes, referring to the wall on the border between the United States and Mexico, which has been promoted by President Donald Trump.

The statement was made at the second debate table at the Security and Development seminar, held by Folha, sponsored by ETCO this Tuesday (20th), in Brasília. Nardes said he asked Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes to be more proactive. “It is time for Itamaraty to take action and create agreements. There is no point in ruling at TCU and waiting. ”

The most urgent measures, according to Nardes, are the creation of policies to strengthen border areas, which have low population density and job offers, and the authorization for police persecutions to happen across borders between countries.

For the director general of the PRF (Federal Highway Police), Renato Dias, the creation of special groups of action in the border states, replicating what is being done today in Rio de Janeiro, would be a way to curb illegal trade .

For this to happen, Dias stated that he is negotiating the opening of 2.940 vacancies in public tenders in the next four years. In February, the Minister of Public Security, Raul Jungmann, authorized the opening of a competition for 500 vacancies for the Federal Highway Police.

The group in Rio, created in July 2017 to combat the entry of drug and arms smuggling into the state, and which will continue until the end of the year, has about 40 agents focused on this action.

The idea is that, in other states, groups are created with up to 150 agents who work exclusively in the inspection of border regions, similarly to what occurs in Rio, according to Dias.

INTERVENTIONS

For Nardes, if the Union does not control borders more efficiently, new federal interventions will have to be made in the public security of the states.

The TCU minister criticized the lack of organization of the security forces and policies for the sector, which facilitates the entry of illegal goods and people (who pretend to be refugees), generating an increase in crimes in the capitals.

“It is a bankruptcy in the state of Rio Janeiro that is all over Brazil. This happens due to the disorganization of the structures of the security forces ”, he said.

Source: Folha de São Paulo (20/03)

Tolerance of piracy and tax burden encourage smuggling, says senator

Ana Amélia defends the creation of new public policies to fight crime

 

The tolerance of Brazilians to trade in pirated products and the excessive tax burden on goods of legal origin in Brazil are some of the causes behind the increase in smuggling in the country, according to Senator Ana Amélia (PP-RS).

In the case of piracy, the senator - who spoke during the seminar on Security and Development, organized by Folha, sponsored by ETCO (Brazilian Institute of Competition Ethics) - gave as an example the clandestine pay-TV service, also known as “gatonet” . Ana Amélia defined the practice as a misappropriation of a resource that belongs to companies. The senator is the rapporteur of a bill that imposes a fine on anyone who uses a pirated cable TV set-top box. "You can't outsource ethics, ask that only members of Congress be ethical, and continue to buy pirated products or do illegal things under the hood," he said. Another reason that contributes to the growth of the illegal market in the country, according to her, is the excess of regulation and taxes that fall on products legally traded in the country. She cited as examples pesticides and agricultural machinery that, even produced in Brazil, are sold at lower prices in neighboring countries. According to the senator, there is also a lack of resources, both financial and technological, for a more adequate defense of national borders. There would be a positive cost-benefit for the economy of greater investment in the area, since smuggling is an increasingly damaging factor for trade in the country, according to her. Ana Amélia, who is co-author of a project that raises the penalty for the crime of smuggling with Senator Raimundo Lira (PMDB-PB), defended the creation of new public policies to fight crime and also a new vision of public administration in relation to the losses caused by the high tax burden.

“We have to face this, at the risk of seeing more and more what is happening today in Rio de Janeiro [the state is undergoing federal intervention to curb violence]. If you join the dots, you get to the same source of the problem: lack of resources and understanding between institutions, ”he said.

Source: Folha de São Paulo (20/03/2018)

 

Folha de São Paulo publishes an article by the ETCO president: The law is not for everyone.

THE LAW IS NOT FOR EVERYONE

By EDSON VISMONA

A study by the Brazilian Institute of Planning and Taxation, with data until September 30, 2016, reveals that the Union, states and municipalities have edited 5,47 million rules since the promulgation of the current Constitution, on October 5, 1988.

It may seem incredible, and it is: for the reader to have an idea of ​​what this represents, there were 535 laws, decrees, provisional measures, complementary norms or amendments edited per day, on average. The survey also points out that, in the analyzed period, the Federal Government issued 163 thousand rules; the states, 1.460.985; and the municipalities, 3.847.866.

This desire to regulate everything and everyone has some important and serious consequences for the country. On the one hand, the truth is that a part of the market adapts and follows laws, decrees and rules. All serious companies, of course, seek to be informed in order to comply with the regulations in force, even if it costs money. It is no coincidence that in Brazil companies are the world champions in hours spent to meet tax requirements: 2.600!

Another part of the market, the illegal, however, simply ignores the State, the decrees, laws, technical norms - and solemnly, without any fear of the consequences that this posture may entail. And why the lack of fear? The answer is simple: the government does not have a supervisory structure that can control this tangle of legislation - in fact, part of which is in conflict with each other.

This creates a serious systemic distortion: those who obey the legislation have a basic competitive disadvantage. This aspect, in fact, should be the object of a deep reflection by our government officials: if the regulatory agencies - all of them, without exception, Anac, Anatel, ANP, Aneel, Anvisa etc. - do not carry out their activities satisfactorily, this regulatory action needs to be immediately revised, reinforcing the inspection action, strengthening the eminently technical posture and the increase of the resources destined for this action.

And what does unfair competition mean in practice? What are its consequences? At the end of the process, we have two parallel markets: the one based on legality and the purely illegal, built from the evasion of taxes and duties, the smuggling of products from abroad - always sold with stratospheric profit margins -, counterfeiting and piracy.
Whoever circumvents the rules ends up hurting the consumer: the cigarette that comes from Paraguay does not pass the minimum requirements of Anvisa; the same is true of medicines and health-related products and lamps, appliances and toys that do not meet Inmetro regulations.

Examples such as these are real and affect entire production chains with evident damage to the health of Brazilians, fair competition and the purse. In the case of cigarettes, the most smuggled product in Brazil, for example, losses from tax evasion reached almost R $ 10 billion in 2017.

In addition to bleeding in the public coffers, companies that work with legality are directly affected and need to adjust to this reality; in other words, the illegal market removes investments and takes jobs and income from Brazilians, directly affecting the generation of wealth in the country.

The big knot of the matter is that the inspection of the illegal market is very deficient, a situation worsened by the excess of changes and new rules, which brings legal uncertainty and can modify the jurisprudence of the courts, generating many doubts in the conduct of business. It would be difficult to monitor an environment of clear and perennial rules. What about a situation where the rules change all the time?

To enter the path of sustainable development, Brazil does not need new laws at all times; it needs much more institutional tranquility, strict controls and greater supervision. The legal market and the Brazilian consumer deserve respect.

EDSON VISMONA is president of ETCO (Brazilian Institute of Competition Ethics) and of FNCP (National Forum for Combating
Piracy and Illegality)

Cigarette smuggling in Brazil reaches record level in 2017

Brazil has become the largest global market for illegal cigarettes. In 2017, 48% of the brands sold in the country were illegal, with the vast majority smuggled from Paraguay. To get an idea of ​​the size of the problem, today the most sold cigarette brand in Brazil is Eight, manufactured by Tabacalera del Este, a company owned by Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes.

This trade brings huge losses to Brazil. The cigarette sector has one of the highest tax burdens in the country, which, since 2011, means that around R $ 23 billion of taxes in taxes were no longer collected, an amount that could have been reverted to the benefit of the Brazilian population.

But cigarette smuggling does not only bring financial losses to the country. This trade is now controlled by criminal factions such as the First Command of the Capital and the Red Command, and the profits from the activity also serve to encourage the trafficking of drugs, arms and ammunition in the country. Fighting to reduce smuggling is essential to combat the increase in urban violence across Brazil.

In addition to crime and tax evasion, smuggling also contributes to the increase in unemployment, has a negative impact on the competitiveness of companies and harms the health of consumers.

According to a study by the State University of Ponta Grossa, Paraguayan cigarettes have high concentrations of heavy metals, with values ​​up to 11 times higher than those found in cigarettes legally manufactured in Brazil. In addition, the study also found traces of rat hair, cockroach paws and mite colonies in Paraguayan cigarettes seized by authorities.

Several factors contributed to the explosion in cigarette smuggling. Initially, it is necessary to point out the porosity of borders. Brazil has about 3 agents to inspect not only the nearly 17 kilometers of borders, but also ports and airports across the country. Thus, it is practically impossible to prevent the entry of these products in Brazil.

But perhaps the main factor in stimulating cigarette smuggling is the high tax burden. Taxes in the sector represent up to 80% of the value of a pack of cigarettes, while in Paraguay, taxes paid by cigarette manufacturers are only 16%. This tax disparity is a huge stimulus for this illegal trade, and they guarantee profit margins of more than 150% in some cases.

This also undermines the National Tobacco Control Policy, as about half of the cigarette market does not meet the measures stipulated by law such as the minimum price policy and the adoption of warning messages and images about the risks in consumption.

For the president of the  (ETCO) and the National Forum Against Piracy and Illegality (FNCP), Edson Vismona, a country that wants to be big cannot live with this stain anymore. "It is no longer possible to accept that the best-selling cigarette in Brazil is smuggled from Paraguay," he says. “It is necessary to promote the union of forces between the government and organized civil society to find solutions to this problem” believes Vismona.

Legality Movement arrives in Porto Alegre

Edson Vismona, president of ETCO and FNCP, representing the Movement in Defense of the Brazilian Legal Market, launched with Mayor Nelson Marchezan, last Monday (18/12), the Legality Movement.

The Movement foresees coordinated actions to combat the illegal market (smuggling, piracy, counterfeiting), integrating the bodies of the City Hall, Federal Police, Federal Revenue, Federal Highway Police, Military Brigade and Civil Police. Various Civil Society entities such as FECOMERCIO / RS, SINDILOJAS, Associação Comercial, FIERGS and FEDERASUL support this initiative, which will also stimulate public awareness actions so that they do not purchase illegal products.

Porto Alegre is the fourth city to join the Legality Movement. São Paulo, Recife and Campinas are already part of the project.

The initiative had extensive press coverage. See the main articles here:

Hour_Um

 

Shopkeepers charge increased inspection of pirated products sold in Porto Alegre (Jornal Hora Um - Rede Globo)

 

 

zero hour

 

Porto Alegre joins the campaign against illegal merchandise trade, Jornal Zero Hora

 

 

ETCO participates in the XNUMXth World Trade Organization Conference

Buenos Aires, 13/12/2017

Edson Vismona, president of ETCO, participates in the 164th World Trade Organization - WTO Conference, which brings together representatives from 130 countries and is being held in Buenos Aires. In addition to the various issues related to the development of world trade, for the first time there was a panel dealing with illicit trade. Among the cases reported during the event, the highlight is that of Brazil, presented by Edson Vismona, who reported the losses generated by smuggling, counterfeiting and piracy in the order of R $ XNUMX billion (estimated value of losses in the productive sectors - tobacco, clothing , fuels, cosmetics, medicines, among others). The panel also included the participation of Crime Stoppers International demonstrating the actions it has stimulated. At the end of the panel, proposals were discussed and approved, which will be forwarded to WTO management.

Illegal trade worries the World Trade Organization

Brazil will present the impacts of smuggling and measures to contain the advance of the illegal market

To mark the ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Crime Stoppers International Foundation (CSI), invites governments, businessmen and civil society to the panel "Threats of illegal trade". The purpose of the event is to draw up a series of recommendations that will be officially presented to the WTO.

The event will be open to all companies, entities and government representatives who will meet at the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference and are interested in protecting their industries, economies and countries from the threat of illegal trade.

Scheduled on December 12 (Wednesday), in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the panel will be attended by Ruud Smulders, CSI's executive director; Devrol Dupigny, director of global operations; and Edson Vismona, president of the Brazilian Institute of Competitive Ethics  and the National Forum Against Piracy and Illegality (FNCP).

Panelists will present the problem of illegal trade from different perspectives, highlighting the impact on international trade, health and the economies of the affected countries. They will also expose the relationship between illegal trade and corruption, money laundering and financing of terrorist groups, and how free trade zones are exploited by criminal organizations.

The scale and impact of illicit trade globally

Since the creation of the WTO in 1995, international trade has grown substantially, improving the living conditions of thousands of people around the world. However, this same growth has led to an exponential increase in illegal trade, which amounts to a value close to US $ 650 billion. It is estimated that the illegal financial flows related to this activity total US $ 1,3 trillion and that the illegal economy represents about 15% of the world GDP.

These overwhelming levels of illegal trade present a series of challenges that have not yet been resolved by the international community. It is necessary to implement greater and better controls to combat these illegal activities, promoting formal trade and positively impacting the governance and effectiveness of global sustainable development.

Brazil: case at the Ministerial Conference

Within the cases that will be presented during the event, Brazil stands out. In 2016, smuggling, counterfeiting and piracy generated losses for the country in the order of R $ 130 billion, added to the losses of productive sectors - tobacco, clothing, fuels, cosmetics, medicines, among others - and tax evasion, according to survey of the National Forum Against Piracy and Illegality (FNCP).

According to data from the Federal Revenue, more than 65% of the smuggled goods entering Brazil are cigarettes and, in the last year, the volume of illegal cigarettes reached 45,2 billion units.

The increase in smuggling has occurred due to a combination of factors, including the tax imbalance between Brazil and Paraguay, the economic crisis and the fragility of borders. While in Brazil, taxes represent 80% of the value of a pack of cigarettes, in Paraguay, taxes paid by cigarette manufacturers are only 16%, which favors the entry of the product across borders, which have a very control structure it's precarious.

The effects of the illegal market fall on society with the increase in Brazilian violence, since criminal organizations are financed by smuggling. In addition to crime, smuggling also generates losses in tax collection, fosters unemployment, impacts the competitiveness of companies in Brazil and harms consumers' health.

For Edson Vismona, the panel will be an opportunity to discuss effective measures to combat smuggling definitively. "It is necessary for the Government to establish a tax reform based on the reality of the Brazilian market, added to the increase in taxes in Paraguay to reduce the attractiveness of smuggled goods, in addition to intensifying border control", explains Vismona.

About Crime Stoppers International (CSI)

Crime Stoppers International (CSI) is an international NGO based in the Netherlands, whose mission is to mobilize international society to report, anonymously, information related to criminal activities. CSI maintains cooperation agreements with INTERPOL and maintains collaborative memos with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the CNN Freedom project, Airline Ambassadors International (AAI) and the International Police Training Institute (IPTI).

Legality Movement in Campinas

Correio Popular, 01/12/2017

by Jonas Donizeti

Campinas is taking an important step in the fight against organized crime and illegal trade: the launch of the Legality Movement, which will promote the union of forces between the National Front of Mayors (FNP), the City of Campinas and civil society to fight the market illegal and the routing effectively and forcefully.
This should be the flag of all Brazilian municipalities, and the partnership between FNP, the Municipality of Campinas, the (ETCO) and the National Forum Against Piracy and Illegality (FNCP), is a sign of our management's commitment to this objective.
About 70 business entities and civil society organizations affected by these illegal smuggling practices support the initiative. The movement has already been launched in São Paulo and will be replicated to other Brazilian municipalities, to build a more developed society, with more jobs, security, income, collection and quality public services.
In Campinas, only in 2016, the sale of smuggled and pirated products generated a tax evasion of R $ 850 million to municipal public coffers, a value that could be reverted to the benefit of the population in the form of more health, education, transportation, security.
In Brazil, smuggling and counterfeiting of products caused a loss of R $ 130 billion. The fight against trade in smuggled and pirated goods is complex, as it involves the alignment of forces from the federal, state and municipal governments. But the source of this problem has a powerful economic component: the huge tax disparity between Brazil and neighboring countries fuels this traffic, especially coming from Paraguay, responsible for most of the products that enter the country illegally.
The illegal cigarette trade, the leading contraband in the. city, as in the rest of the country, is an example of the negative impact on society.
Brazilian manufacturers, who pay up to 86% of taxes, are obliged to live with unfair competition from Paraguayan companies taxed at a bankrupt 16%. This caused the smuggling of the product in Campinas to reach 48% this year, an increase of 11 percentage points in relation to last year. But smuggling does not only bring financial losses to the city.
The activity is one of the main forms of financing for criminal organizations, which dominate their commercialization throughout the country, and also serves to mask other criminal modalities, since smuggled products often enter Brazil together with weapons and drugs. In addition, illegal products have no quality control and do not follow Brazilian inspection, putting the health of the population at risk.
Combating illegal trade is a measure of respect for those who work correctly, respect for the issue of taxes so that the public power is able to provide better services to the population.

It is important to make it clear that popular and illegal trade should not be confused. Nothing against popular commerce. Everything against illegal. This is the message we want to get across. In assuming the public commitment to make the fight against the illegal market a priority, the City Hall. shows that, although complex, the problem can and must be faced. Only then will we put not only Campinas, but Brazil as a whole, on the path of development, legality and justice.

Jonas Donizeti is mayor of Campinas and president of FNP - National Front of Mayors