The controversy over the charge of Funrural seems far from over. Today (11) the Brazilian Association of Refrigerators (Abrafrigo), issued a note contesting whether the charge is valid.
“In 2010, the Federal Supreme Court (STF) ruled that Funrural’s collection was unconstitutional and, therefore, that the rural producers should not make the payment. In 2017, the STF went back and recognized the collection as constitutional, and since then farmers have been fulfilling this commitment, totaling R $ 300 million per month in the beef sector alone. So, in fact, this debt that the government points out in the seven years in which Funrural was not demanded, does not exist, “Abrafrigo Executive President Péricles Salazar said in a note.
After the decision of the STF in 2010, thousands of decisions of first instance of judges of all Brazil, corroborated the decision of the Supreme Court. “Wanting to charge an account that does not exist now is an assault on thousands of rural producers and slaughterhouses across the country,” added Péricles Salazar.
According to him, there is disagreement even in the very figures released by the government on the period in which the collection was unconstitutional. “In the state area, it is reported that the amount that has not been collected in these seven years is R $ 17 billion, but other sources report that the value is R $ 2 billion,” said the leader. On Wednesday, the Chamber of Deputies voted as a matter of urgency the bill that ends the debts of Funrural, authored by deputy Jerônimo Goergen (PP-RS), which may definitively end the problem created for the agribusiness sector Brazilian. “There can be no forgiveness for a debt that does not exist,” he said.
This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.