Rural producers from all over Brazil are planning a demonstration to protest against the collection on April 4, in Brasília (DF). Rural Workers Assistance Fund (Funrural). About 10,000 people are expected to take part in the protest, which must be held in front of the National Congress.
Many entities in the sector have already confirmed their presence in the act. As for example the Association of Soya and Corn Producers of Goiás (Aprosoja-GO). The president of the entity, Bartolomeu Braz, criticizes the decision of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) that made the collection of Funrural constitutional.
“This question has been plaguing all producers in Brazil since that vote [on 03/29/2017], which was surprising, where the Supreme Court reversed a decision from 11 to 0 to 6 to 5,” he said in a statement.
According to Aprosoja, since then, the Federal Revenue Service began notifying producers who had not been collecting Funrural, although they were supported by the previous STF judgment that had unanimously declared the fund unconstitutional.
“Now that it needs resources to improve public accounts, the government wants Funrural to be charged retroactively, which could lead to thousands of rural properties going bankrupt,” Aprosoja said.