Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi said he did not believe that there is a favorable environment to approve changes in the Kandir Law this year. The statement was made during the minister’s participation in an event held in Cuiabá (MT).
THE Proposed Constitutional Amendment (PEC) that deals with the return to the collection of export taxes concerns producers of the agricultural sector. According to the minister, the collection of ICMS would take the competitiveness of Brazilian products abroad.
THE amendment, in addition to relying on a large majority for approval in Congress, must face resistance from the rural bench. PEC 37/2007, which takes over the collection, passed the Commission on Constitution, Justice and Citizenship (CCJ) in November. The relief scheme was established in 1988 and extended with Complementary Law 87/1996 to primary and semi-finished products destined for export.
According to the minister, the producers’ margins have declined “to the point where, practically, today, if they do not harvest very well and take advantage of them, sometimes the exchange rate, it ends up tying, exchanging six for half a dozen.” Maggi warned that it would be a dangerous thing to tamper with the tribute. “This is not a question of whining, but it is risky to tinker with a sector that is the basis of the economy.”