São Paulo – The package for industrial support announced on Tuesday (3) by the government of Brazil includes incentives to exporters. According to figures disclosed by the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, to be considered “mainly exporter” the company needs 50% of revenues coming from foreign sales, and no longer 60% and 70%, depending on the area of operation.
Companies that fit this profile may buy inputs without paying the Tax on Industrialized Products (IPI), the Program for Social Integration fee (PIS) and the Contribution for Financing Social Security (Cofins).
“This measure is an advance to avoid the accumulation of taxes that must now be returned to exporters. This way, competitiveness of the Brazilian product is guaranteed on the foreign market,” said the Foreign Trade secretary, Tatiana Lacerda Prazeres, according to a press statement disclosed by the ministry.
The ministry informs that there will be a new kind of Advance on Exchange Contract (ACC), a pre-shipment export financing modality. In this category, credit is granted to exporters so that they may make the product. The government is going to develop an “Indirect ACC” turned to organisations that sell abroad through trading companies.
This credit, according to the ministry, will be offered at “reduced rates”, benefiting micro, small and medium organisations, which normally don’t export directly.
The ministry informed that the funds in the Export Financing Programme (Proex) and other public funds should be expanded from the R$ 1.24 billion (US$ 678 million) to R$ 3.1 billion (US$ 1.7 billion).
The government also promised that it should strengthen the commercial defence area. “We must fight against predatory and disloyal competition, dumping, illegal protectionist practices and, in this light, we are going to act firmly at international organisations, adopting all possible safeguards to defend our companies, jobs and the income of our workers,” said president Dilma Rousseff, according to Agência Brasil.
*Translated by Mark Ament
