Tag: Movement in Defense of the Legal Market

Piracy attacks consumer and breaks record

Source: Jornal de Brasília (07/05/2018)

Tax fraud is expected to reach R $ 165 billion in 2018. Poor product quality increases losses. Few are punished.

by Jéssica Antunes
jessica.antunes@grupojbr.com

Whether on the stands of the fairs or on store shelves, pirated products gain space in the Federal District. They are counterfeit and smuggled items, which evade taxes and grow without producers, brands and inspection. The Brazilian Association to Combat Counterfeiting (ABCF) estimates that R $ 145 billion in taxes ceased to be collected in Brazil in 2017. It is expected to reach R $ 165 billion this year. Punishment is mild, and recidivism is high. In the capital, the police try to nip the evil in the bud.

The crime of piracy can be classified into two criminal types: violation of copyright or trademark. The first, if there is commercialization, has a penalty of two to four years in prison, but is subject to bail. The second provides for up to one year in prison, and the penalty is usually converted to service provision. According to the Public Security Secretariat, this year there were 22 occurrences related to the two crimes involving the pirate market, with 43 people arrested, according to a preliminary survey by the Civil Police.

The investigation and prosecution of these cases are the responsibility of the Police to Combat Crimes Against Immaterial Property (DCPim). Chief Marcelo Portela says that this type of activity may be related to other crimes, such as bribery of public officials and drug trafficking, for example. Combat is usually done in large operations. “Due to the lack of effectiveness, the actions have to be more certain, detailed and detailed. If there is little ammunition, the shot must be accurate ”.

Most criminals respond in freedom. At the Federal Court of Justice (TJDFT), 179 cases related to intellectual property have been opened since 2016. During the period, 620 were processed and 257 were judged. This year, there have been 21 trials, 171 proceedings and 18 distributions. Most, in all cases and years, refer to copyright infringement.

Historical apprehension

On March 20, the Civil Police made the biggest seizure of pirated CDs and DVDs in the history of the Federal District and dismantled a clandestine factory for mass production of pirated media. Operation Perfídia started at the Imported Fair in Taguatinga and reached a clandestine factory in Itapoã. 30 thousand media, printers, computers and recording towers were seized. At city fairs, backpackers would get up early and line up for supplies.

A woman was caught in the act, but released on bail. According to police officer Portela, she worked with her partner: “They are old people known as distributors. Together, they were arrested 17 times. This time we took the production laboratory ”. According to him, there is the challenge of making operations painful for criminals, "but it is very difficult to stop if it reaches the Judiciary and the person is released".

Sale goes beyond fairs and reaches stores

Counterfeits are produced especially in the Metropolitan Region, but sales take place in broad daylight in illegal and formal businesses in the capital. The concentration is higher in places with high customer movement, such as fairs. Taguatinga has drawn the attention of the police for the marketing of counterfeit or pirated products. A month ago, three regular stores near Feira dos Goianos were booked, and three people caught in the act selling pajamas with Disney designs prints without authorization - considered a violation of trademark rights.

“A self-respecting businessman does not open the door to sell pirated or smuggled goods. I feel obliged to say that this is not a businessman, he is a criminal ”, shoots the president of the Commercial Association of DF, Cléber Pires. He says he has no knowledge of marketing these products in legal establishments and asks that complaints be made. “All piracy immediately affects the local economy. In addition to an affront to society, it causes loss of revenue, job creation, in the production chain ”, he says.

From the point of view of legality, trade and the economy are directly affected. For Adelmir Santana, president of the Federation of Trade in Goods, Services and Tourism (Fecomércio), it is necessary to stimulate customer education. “Often, consumers focus only on costs. But these products are beyond the control of the State, do not pay taxes and the difference is very large. In addition to health risk, the person strengthens the piracy market ”, he says.

Cigarettes on top of smuggling and embezzlement

and ammunition cross the Brazilian borders illegally for smuggling and embezzlement. The estimate is that the illegal trade generates R $ 130 billion in losses to the Brazilian productive sectors annually, but the confrontation comes up against the feeling of impunity and restricted police action due to low personnel.

In Brazil and the DF, Paraguayan cigarettes have a higher volume in smuggling seizures. In the capital, products usually arrive on the roads to the Metropolitan Region, from where the products are distributed. According to the head of DCPim, sales in commercial establishments in the capital are veiled. Last October, a deposit with approximately 15 packs of smuggled cigarettes from Paraguay was found in Ceilandia.

According to the Federal Highway Police, there were more than five thousand items of clothing, one hundred units of cosmetics, 15 boxes of medicines and more than three thousand others not cataloged seized on the federal highways that cut the DF and Entorno in 2017, framed in the two criminal types .

Since 2014, smuggling and embezzlement crimes have been distinguished by Brazilian law. The first consists of importing and exporting prohibited products and is punishable by two to five years in prison. The other deals with the non-payment of taxes for the entry or exit of products, as in the case of buying electronics on international trips, with a maximum penalty of four years. Generally, both are practiced at the same time.

Low feather

Luciano Godoy, lawyer and professor at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV), points out that smugglers do not feel cornered by the possibility of punishment. “As the sentences are very low, most people do not even serve in a closed regime”, he says. General Secretary of the Association of Federal Judges (Ajufe), Fernando Mendes believes that there are not yet “enough tools to combat macro-crime, and the judicial model contributes to the inefficiency of the result”.

President of the Brazilian Institute of Ethics in Competition (Etco) and of the National Forum Against Piracy and Illegality (FNCP), Edson Vismona does not consider it fair that traders have to pay all fees and compete with those who do not do the same. "It is disloyal," he says.

Learn more

- The smuggled products seized by the Civil Police of the Federal District are passed on to the Federal Revenue Service; counterfeits are available to the courts.
- Those who buy pirated products do not commit crime, but they can face problems. Toys may contain small or loose parts, causing risk to children.
- Anabolics, cosmetics and alcoholic beverages can have harmful components to health. Shoes are of low quality and can cause damage to the spine and knee. Electronics can even explode.
- For a week, Jornal de Brasília asked the Federal Police and the Federal Highway Police for amounts of seizures, but did not receive a return until the closing of this issue. The TJDFT also did not report on the proceedings initiated and the sentences passed.

Tips

- When buying a product, observe the packaging. The counterfeit is never exactly the same as the original.
- Be wary if the advertised price is far below that found in other stores or websites.
- Observe the place where the product is sold, because there are brands sold only by accredited stores.
- Always ask for invoice and guarantee of return and exchange

 

To access the article in the Jornal de Brasília, click here

 

Manifesto of the Movement in Defense of the Legal Market is given to the pre-candidate Rodrigo Maia

Event Revista Voto_entrega Rodrigo Maia

 

The president of the Chamber of Deputies, Rodrigo Maia (DEM-RJ), was the speaker Brazil Ideas Seminar, which took place this Friday (9) in Rio de Janeiro. Directed by VOTO Magazine.

Federal intervention in state security, structural reforms and the electoral scenario were some of the issues addressed by the congressman and pre-candidate for the Presidency of the Republic.

During the event, Edson Vismona, president of ETCO and FNCP, presented to the president of the Chamber of Deputies the Manifesto of the Movement in Defense of the Brazilian Legal Market. which deals with “Security and Development”, with specific proposals for public security and tax policy.

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.

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

Recife signs adherence to the Legality Movement during the 72nd general meeting of the National Mayors Front

From 27 to 29 November, mayors and managers from all over the country will meet in Recife / PE to work on common themes of the municipalities. The agenda is the 72nd General Meeting of the National Front of Mayors (FNP), whose program was developed to deal with tax reform and subsidize the construction of an initial document, which will be improved and delivered in 2018 to candidates for the presidency of the Republic and Congress National.

During the meeting, the president of FNCP and ETCO, coordinating the Legality Movement, signed with the Mayor of Recife, Geraldo Julio, the term of commitment to encourage the defense of the legal market, to combat smuggling, counterfeiting and piracy in the city. Recife is the second capital to sign this commitment, after São Paulo.FNP REEF 2

 

Smuggling in Brazil: Impacts and Solutions

Brazil loses R $ 100 billion annually to the crime of smuggling, in the form of tax evasion, loss of jobs in industry and commerce and damage to the health of the population. Several sectors of the economy are severely affected by this crime, such as cigarettes, medicines, clothes, drinks, among others.

This Tuesday, the Movement for the Defense of the Brazilian Legal Market brought together a group of experts and authorities in Brasília to discuss the impacts of smuggling in Brazil and seek solutions to this serious problem.

For Evandro Guimarães, president of the Brazilian Institute of Ethics in Competition (ETCO) and one of the coordinators of the Movement, we are experiencing a delicate moment. "The government desperately needs to expand the collection, but for this purpose it is considering adopting measures that will have an opposite effect to that desired". For Guimarães, it is not possible to charge more sectors that today suffer from the loss of the market to illegality. “How to defend new increases knowing that this will generate unemployment, affect tax revenues, increase crime and destabilize companies based in Brazil? ”, Asks the executive.

See below the main highlights of the event:

The Minister of Justice, José Eduardo Cardozo, presented a brief overview of the activities carried out to combat crime in border regions, with emphasis on actions such as the Sentinela and Ágata operations. The minister also highlighted the importance of greater integration with the police forces of neighboring countries, as a way to curb illegality. Asked about the possibility of the government carrying out longer operations at the borders, the minister was skeptical: “it is clear that the ideal would be to have enough effective to block the borders completely, but this is not viable, especially from the point of view of the effective and operating costs, ”said Cardozo.

This is not what federal deputy Efraim Filho (DEM / PB) thinks, president of the Mixed Parliamentary Front to Combat Smuggling and Counterfeiting. For him, it is not only possible to close the borders to crime, but this would be another way for the government to increase the collection, without, however, resorting to further tax increases: “the minister said that the cost of an action like that would be too high. But a recent study by the Institute for Economic and Social Development of Borders (Idesf), showed that the Agate operation, if carried out permanently, would have the potential to add R $ 3 billion annually to the collection of only two taxes, the IPI and the Tax of operation.

Speaking on the industry panel, Andrea Martini, president of Souza Cruz, showed how the increase in taxes in the tobacco sector over the past 3 years has definitely contributed to the expansion of cigarette smuggling in Brazil. “In 2011, smuggling hovered around% of the market, and had remained almost stable. But with the introduction of the current tax model, which increased the sector's taxes by 110% over a 3-year period, smuggling took a leap and reached 34% of the entire national market this year, ”said Martini. For the executive, in addition to the measures to combat smuggling that must be adopted, there is no more room for tax increases, as this would have devastating effects for Brazilian industry.

Credit: Claudio Reis / Esp.CB / DA Press

Credit: Claudio Reis / Esp.CB / DA Press

06/10/2015. Credit: Claudio Reis / Esp.CB / DA Press. Brazil. Brasilia DF. The executive president of the Brazilian Institute of Ethics in Competition (ETCO), Evandro Guimarães, participates in the seminar "Contraband in Brazil: Impacts and Solutions", in the auditorium of the Correio Braziliense. The meeting is promoted by the ETCO Institute.

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In the photo, Edson Vismona and Luciano Barros. Credit: Claudio Reis / Esp.CB / DA Press

Letter of intent

At the end of the event, ETCO president Evandro Guimarães delivered a letter to the minister of justice with suggestions to the federal government that could be adopted in the short and medium term, and which would have a positive effect in combating smuggling..

INTEGRATED LETTER

 Your Excellency Sir 

José Eduardo Cardozo

Minister of State for Justice

 In mid-2014, the Brazilian Institute for Ethical Competition (ETCO) created, alongside the National Forum to Combat Piracy and Illegality (FNCP), the Institute for Economic and Social Development of Borders (Idesf) and the Brazilian Combat Association to Falsification (ABCF), the Movement for the Defense of the Brazilian Legal Market, a coalition that already has more than 70 entities representing sectors of the economy affected by different types of legal deviations such as smuggling, counterfeiting, embezzlement and piracy. 

Since then, the Movement has been conducting a series of events, lectures and meetings with the objective of sensitizing Brazilian society and the Federal Government, on these problems. In 2015, for example, we held the 1st National Day to Combat Smuggling, a crime that today brings losses of more than R $ 100 billion to Brazil in the form of tax evasion, losses for the industry and even issues related to health and security of Brazilians. 

During this period, it was clear to members of the Movement that some fundamental measures, of varying complexity, would have highly positive effects in combating illegality in the country. At a time when the federal government is seeking a necessary adjustment of its accounts, these measures could, to a large extent, contribute to the country being able to leave the current moment of crisis, without, however, burdening the Brazilian population and the sector even more. productive, which today live with one of the highest tax burdens in the world. 

In this way, ETCO, on behalf of the Movement for the Defense of the Brazilian Legal Market, hereby requests the collaboration of the Honorable Minister of Justice for the measures below to become part of the government's positive agenda:

1) Greater investment in the security of our borders - A recent study developed by Idesf shows that the execution of Agate operations has a direct effect on tax collection. By analyzing the periods in which this operation was carried out between the years 2011 and 2014, and cross-checking data on the collection of only two taxes (IPI and Import tax), it was possible to verify that Ágata has a highly positive impact on the coffers. If these operations were carried out on a permanent basis, the additional collection of these two taxes would be greater than R $ 3 billion per year.

2) Maintenance of the current tax burden - In times of crisis, it is tempting to take drastic measures to try to resolve the issue in the shortest possible time. But these measures can often prove to be inefficient. This is the case with the indiscriminate increase in taxes, which at first may seem like a real panacea for Brazil's problems. However, especially in the case of sectors severely affected by illegality, it has an opposite effect to that desired: higher taxes increase the competitive advantage of illegal products in Brazil, and weaken companies that operate legally in Brazil. 

3) Brazil / Paraguay Agenda - With a GDP of around US $ 30 billion, and 'exporting' around R $ 20 billion in illegal products annually to Brazil alone, it is clear that activities such as smuggling are part of the economic reality of the neighboring country. It is necessary that Brazil, in the position of the largest economy in South America, act together with the Paraguayan authorities so that the country can develop in a sustainable way, without needing the current heterodox practices.

We can no longer remain indifferent to this situation. The illegal activities mentioned here are destroying the investment and innovation capacity of the Brazilian industry, subtracting billions of reais from public coffers and threatening the employment, health and safety of millions of Brazilians. The real commitment of all, government and civil society, is needed so that Brazil can, once and for all, face with due firmness the problems that affect us all.

Best Regards,

Evandro Guimaraes

Chief Executive Officer of ETCO

 

To learn more about combating smuggling, click here.

Correio Braziliense newspaper promotes seminar on Smuggling in Brazil

invitation_seminario_contrabando
O jornal Mail Braziliense on the 06th of October, in Brasília, the seminar Smuggling in Brazil: Impacts and solutions. The event is sponsored by ETCO-Brazilian Institute of Ethical Competition and is part of the actions of the Movement in Defense of the Brazilian Legal Market, a coalition that has more than 70 entities representing the sectors of the economy affected by smuggling, counterfeiting and piracy.

Date: 06 / 10 / 2015

Hours: 8h30 to 12h45

Venue: Auditorium of the headquarters building of the Diários Associados - SIG Quadra 2, lot 340

Brasilia DF

Free entrance. Confirmations via email seminariocontrabando@gmail.com until 02/10

 

Presentation of the unprecedented study “Impacts of Combat Operations in Border Zones”

On September 16, a press conference will be held by the Movement in Defense of the Brazilian Legal Market and the Institute for Economic and Social Development of Borders (Idesf), for the presentation of the study that highlights the positive impacts of Operation Agate for the collection the fight against crime, the stability of companies and the generation of jobs in the country.

Date: 16 September 2015
Opening hours: at 14 pm
Location: Brasil 21 Convention Center - Brasília.

Invitation_Collective Borders