Entities from the national productive sector met on Wednesday (22) in Brasilia to discuss the impacts of the Minimum Freight Policy for Road Freight Transport. The subject was the theme of Seminar Freight without Table, Brazil with Future, a movement organized by eight agribusiness and industry entities.
A week after the resumption of discussions on the measure by the Federal Supreme Court (STF), which has a hearing scheduled for next Monday (27), the category alleges that the tabulation is unconstitutional and asks for the annulment of the STF policy.
At the time, the representatives reinforced that the minimum freight violates principles of the Federal Constitution that deal with free competition, social values of labor, free initiative and economic order.
Entities also pointed out that price interference policies never worked in any segment. They cited the unsuccessful experiences of 1980 that resulted in a hyperinflationary picture for more than a decade in the country.
For the president of the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oils Industries (Abiove), André Nassar, the National Congress passed the law in a “careless” way and the Executive “washed his hands” on the case, under the pretext that the truckers strike would return “No one wants to go through a stoppage of that magnitude or the damage it has done to the country, but using that to make even more disastrous decisions for society is worse,” Nassar said.
The official also said that the Powers left in the hands of the STF the mission of positioning itself on the subject. “Markets now need to adjust to a scenario of rising costs, prices, inflation rates and unemployment. And for that, everything is paid a high price with consequences, sometimes irreparable, “he said.
To give you an idea, the president of the Brazilian Association of Soybean Producers (Aprosoja), Bartolomeu Braz, said that losses for the current corn crop, for example, exceeded R $ 2 billion. Braz also pointed out that there are cases where the cost of transporting the grain is higher than the value of the product itself.
“The creation of minimum freight has caused inflation and a 12% increase in food prices. Often freight is more expensive than the product. At times, it will be better to transport corn than to produce corn, “he said.
Present at the event, federal deputy Evandro Gussi (PP-SP) reiterated the urgency to declare this policy unconstitutional or immediate repeal of the law. “We are experiencing a catastrophe in Brazilian society, in our agribusiness, in the basic basket, in the increase of products. And the consequences tend to worsen even more, “Gussi said.
Specialist vision
One of the speakers at the seminar, the specialist in infrastructure competition and director of Inter.B Consultoria, Cláudio Frischtak, said that with the tabulation, Brazil has regressed more than three decades. “They have invented a new tribute to producers, consumers and the whole country. Distorted and inefficient tribute, which worsened the sense of insecurity, “he said.
Frischtak also stressed that the tabulation hampered the attractiveness and viability of the Brazilian productive sector and that the problem of the truck driver is the terrible infrastructure. According to him, Brazil invested 0.59% of GDP [Gross Domestic Product] in all transport modes in 2017 and predicted 0.61% to 2018, less than a third of the necessary.
Specialist in regulatory sectors, the lawyer Beto Vasconcelos has no doubt in affirming that the shipping table is unconstitutional. “We have a large, competitive market and a country with continental dimensions. There is no way to delimit a single pricing mechanism, “he added.
The event
The Seminar Freight without Tables, Brazil with the Future was organized by representatives of the agricultural sector and the industry critics as it fixes prices for freight by road.
The event is supported by the National Confederation of Industry (CNI), Abiove, Aprosoja, Brazilian Animal Protein Association (ABPA), National Association of Citrus Juice Exporters (Citrus), Union of Sugarcane Industry (Unica) Brazilian Association of Meat Exporting Industries (Abiec) and the Brazilian Association of Food Industries (Abia).
This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.