Meio & Mensagem - SP, 12/08/2013
Tag: Robert Abdenur
ETCO talks about corruption to CBN radio
Listen to the interview given by Roberto Abdenur, ETCO's Executive President, to the CBN Madrugada program on July 24th.
[mejsaudio src = ”https://www.etco.org.br/audio/robertoabdenur_240713.mp3 ″]
Submerged economy targets the surface
Zero tolerance
Robert Abdenur
Executive President of the Brazilian Institute of Competition Ethics - ETCO
Hard task has a society that proposes to change its culture. From the economic stabilization provided by the end of hyperinflation, almost two decades ago, the tolerance that we Brazilians had towards informality in the economy began to show.
The new millennium reinforced the perception of this tolerance by bringing great changes not only in Brazil, but abroad. Globalization has consolidated and the world economy has grown, increasing the exchange of products and the need for formalization on the part of companies that aimed to grow in the domestic and foreign markets.
It was evident to some groups of Brazilian businessmen and specialists that it was time to end the culture of transgressions, the one that is lenient with informality, so ingrained in society at the time. If, during the last decades of the 20th century, the informal route presented itself as an alternative to circumvent rampant inflation, with the arrival of economic stabilization it was clear that this practice led to the multiplication of predatory companies, supported by tax evasion, in addition to serving encouragement of any order of contravention.
It was necessary to change his attitude. It was necessary to change the culture of economic relations, stimulating a healthier and more ethical business environment in the country. In this process of change, the Brazilian Institute for Competitive Ethics (ETCO) was the protagonist in proposing several initiatives to improve the business environment.
From 2003, the country, through its public and private institutions, launched a series of actions to curb practices that were hitherto current. In June 2003, the National Congress established the Piracy CPI. Its main result: to suggest the creation of a public agency for the adoption of public policies to combat piracy. It was the origin of the National Council for Combating Piracy and Intellectual Property Offenses (CNCP).
Created in the following year and responsible for the formulation of a National Plan to Combat Piracy, the CNCP, an organ of the Ministry of Justice, is composed of representatives of the public and private powers, a pioneering initiative with regard to the protection of intellectual property. An important development of this process was the creation of the Free City of Piracy Program, whose management is under the responsibility of ETCO, which has already been implemented in seven municipalities and is the asset of the CNCP to comply with the agreement signed with FIFA to combat piracy in host cities for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil.
CNCP's work gained international prominence. In 2011, he was quoted by the United States Trade Representative (USTR, in the follow in English) when announcing the withdrawal of Brazil from Priority Watch List, a list of countries subject to trade sanctions for not having intellectual property rights considered adequately protected.
In the same year of 2003, another initiative by ETCO would represent a major step in the elimination of subterfuges of a tax nature to obtain competitive advantages in the market and, consequently, unfair competition. It was Constitutional Amendment nº 42/2003, which, in its article 146-A, provides that the differentiated taxation systems adopted by the Union coexist with new special criteria from the States, the Federal District and the municipalities, necessary to ensure that the tax burden uniform for competing companies. The regulation of Art. 146-A was proposed in May this year by Senator Delcídio Amaral, through PLS 0161/2013, and awaits Senate approval.
A great revolution in the fight against tax evasion would come with the institution of the electronic invoice (NF-e). Today, it is unthinkable to do business without this resource. According to the IRS, since its implementation in 2008, there have been more than 5 billion emissions, with more than 800 thousand issuing companies.
In addition to the advances in the fight against tax evasion already mentioned, the large mass of data generated by the digital process of the NF-e allowed the development of the BI NF-e, a tax intelligence tool that, after being approved by the Bahia Finance Secretariat ( Sefaz-BA), was made available free of charge to all interested states.
More recently, the National Meeting of State Tax Coordinators and Administrators (ENCAT) took another important step in improving the system with the Recipient Manifestation project, which requires the validation of the NF-e at both ends of the operation, with a view to avoiding operations fraudulent.
Of all the ills caused by unfair competition, the most serious, undoubtedly, is related to medicines. In 2008, a pilot project for the Drug Tracking System was developed at ETCO, with the objective of collaborating with Anvisa in defining the system necessary to comply with Law No. 11.903 / 09, which created the National Drug Control System. At the end of last May, Anvisa held a public hearing to define the system.
Figures from the last decade confirm that Brazil has changed. The Underground Economy Index, developed by ETCO in conjunction with the Brazilian Institute of Economics of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (IBRE-FGV), has been estimating the size of the parallel economy compared to the formal one since 2003. At that time, the underground economy represented 21% Gross Domestic Product. In 2012, 16,6%.
Until we reach a zero tolerance level with unfair competition and misconduct, there is still a long way to go. But the change in culture only occurs with persistence and time. Citizens and institutions determined to make a difference cannot give up. One day, we'll get there.
A disease of R $ 730 billion
By Roberto Abdenur
The Brazilian underground economy - the production of goods and services not reported to the government, which is outside the national GDP - reached 16,6% of the Brazilian Gross Domestic Product in 2012, according to the Underground Economy Index, recently released by the Brazilian Institute Competition Ethics (ETCO), in conjunction with the Brazilian Institute of Economics of the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (IBRE / FGV). In absolute values, it is estimated that the underground economy in 2012 exceeded R $ 730 billion. This significant portion of the Brazilian economy is only the symptom of a disease whose cause can be attributed to factors such as the high tax burden, the rigidity of the labor market, the low average education of the workforce and the excess of bureaucracy in practically all countries. necessary steps to formalize a business. In other words, the high operational and financial costs associated with the fully formalized activity lead many people and companies to stay outside the law.
The 2012 result shows that the shadow economy had a reduction of 0,3 percentage point in relation to the previous year, despite the low growth of the economy in general. The observed drop, however, is small compared to the 0,8 percentage point reductions in the previous two years. This slowdown is due, in large part, to the decline in formal hires by the industry and the performance of the service sector, which is labor intensive and proves to be quite dynamic, but has higher levels of informality than the industry.
Like the figure of the “half-full, half-empty glass”, the result has two opposite interpretations, depending on the angle at which it is analyzed. The “half-full glass”, that is, the positive side, shows a reduction in the underground economy that happens even in a period of low GDP growth associated with less formalization of the labor market. On the side of the “half empty glass”, we see a reduction in the rate of decline in the shadow economy, which may indicate a stagnation in the index.
But, although below the previous years, this result is important and shows that the trajectory of reduction of the underground, giant and unknown economy in Brazil, which already represented 21% of the GDP, is consistent, and, even in a less favorable environment, this portion of the economy is declining.
Despite the government's effort to create measures that facilitate formalization, especially in the commerce and services sectors, where small entrepreneurs predominate, the levels of membership in these sectors are still quite low.
Research recently released by SPC Brasil and the National Confederation of Shopkeepers showed that almost half (49%) of the interviewees do not know what to do to regularize their business. On the other hand, among those who want to expand the business this year, most do not intend to go ahead because they fear bureaucracy, a drop in income and the appearance of new costs and tax burdens. Since the end of 2012, it has been observed that the growth of the formal labor market is very close to its limit due to two major factors: the rigidity of labor laws and the low level of education of Brazilians.
There is a need for a deep reflection on the reasons for the current results, so that public policies that are really effective are designed, so that the weight of the underground economy in Brazil gradually becomes less. Among the main obstacles to the continuation of this evolution is that of labor laws that bind the economy. The other, less obvious, but with a lot of impact on reducing informality, is the level of education of Brazilians. Between 2002 and 2011, informality in the labor market fell by 10 percentage points, from 43% to 32% of the total employed population. The increase in the 22 million people who were educated between 2001 and 2011, according to PNAD, accounts for 64% of this drop.
These numbers bring new and rich possibilities with regard to the improvement of the labor market in the country and the consequent reduction of informality in the economy. Reducing the underground economy indexes is essential for strengthening the entire Brazilian economy, since it imposes several difficulties on the country: official statistics lose their relevance; tax evasion, due to informality, disproportionately increases the weight of taxes on formal activities; unfair competition expands, and activities outside the law start to generate labor, social and even environmental problems. It is necessary to simplify and rationalize the tax system and, thus, make compliance with the law less painful for the population.
Roberto Abdenur, executive president of ETCO and Fernando de Holanda Barbosa Filho, researcher at IBRE / FGV, Diplomat and executive president of the Brazilian Institute of Ethics in Competition (ETCO).
Brazil receives warning from the WTO to combat piracy
Brazil receives warning from the WTO to combat piracy
Clipping Type: TV
Subject: Miscellaneous
Date: 04/06/2013 - 21:09
Broadcaster: Record News
Program: Jornal da Record News
Duration: 00:12:10
A disease of R $ 730 billion
Brazil still has Sweden in the underground economy
Mirian Leitão.com, O Globo - - 10.7.2013
The good news is that the so-called underground economy has been dropping since 2003, as shown by the data released today by the Brazilian Institute of Competition Ethics (ETCO) and by Ibre / FGV. That year, it was 21% of GDP and, in 2012, it was 16,6%. This last figure represents a reduction of 0,3 points in relation to 2011. The bad news is that in the last two years, the rate of decline in the underground economy, which captures not only informality, but also the production of goods and services reported to the government, which is outside GDP, has been decreasing.
Economist Fernando de Holanda Barbosa Filho, from Ibre / FGV, explains why this has been happening:
- This slowdown is basically due to the decline in formal hires by the industry and the growth of the service sector, which is labor intensive and very dynamic, but has higher levels of informality than the industry. But in general, despite the reduction in the rate of decline of the index, the result is still positive, as it is necessary to take into account that, even with the low performance of the economy in the year, informality continues to fall - he said.
The size of the shadow economy is estimated at more than R $ 730 billion, according to FGV, which is equivalent to Sweden's GDP.
According to the executive chairman of Etco, Roberto Abdenur, despite the government's efforts to create measures to facilitate formalization, membership levels in the commerce and services sectors, where small entrepreneurs predominate, are still very low.
- Since the end of 2012, it has been observed that the growth of the formal labor market has reached its limit due to two major factors: the rigidity of labor laws and the low level of education of the Brazilian - says Abdenur.