Director of the Brazilian Association to Combat Falsification (ABCF), Rodolpho Ramazzini presented during the seminar "Competitiveness in Industry - Product Traceability", promoted by the Security Department (Deseg) of the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp), this Wednesday (22), numbers alarming damage that the piracy of products provokes to Brazil. “The country loses R $ 100 billion a year in taxes that are not collected, in addition to the damage done to companies.
One of the demands of ABCF with the government, according to him, is that the sectors most affected have reviewed their tax rates, since the appeal of the lower price is one of the attractions of pirated products. The sector most affected is that of cigarette manufacturers, with losses of R $ 4 billion per year, resulting from the sale of pirated products. "Almost 60% of the cigarette that is sold in São Paulo is Paraguayan and is not only sold by street vendors, but also in legalized commercial establishments," he said.
"There is research showing that the number of smokers has been falling in recent years, but what is happening is the migration of consumption of legal cigarettes by illegal ones, which poses serious risks to the health of consumers," he said.
Other sectors most affected by counterfeiting are auto parts, beverages, designer brands of clothing and eyewear.
"Brazil loses a lot of money with tax evasion, which could be invested in health and education and still equip the government to precisely stop these illegal practices," he said. Ramazzini also pointed out that the number of inspection agents in Brazil is very small in relation to other countries, even though they have an extensive border area, through which various products enter and leave.
This year, according to the specialist, the Federal Revenue carried out 630 operations, but the volume of illegal products entering the territory, across borders, is quite high. In addition, he pointed out that products that do not require a high technological level are counterfeit and made within the country and in several states. The specialist cited several seizures of pirated products carried out jointly with the Federal Police this year. THE falsificação of drinks is very big, according to him, but not only of whiskeys, as in the past. “We made draft beer seized. They take empty barrels from other companies and fill them with the counterfeit drink, ”he explained.
For Ramazzini, differently from previous decades, pirated products today have offered a greater risk to consumer health and safety, such as food, electrical equipment, among others. He cited product seizures, such as beer, milk, cleaning products, among others. If you recently discovered falsificação and sale of counterfeit electrical wires and cables, including in large retail chains.
According to Ramazzini, the industry must be organized to act in a cohesive manner and work together so that criminals realize that it is prepared for this fight. “There are sectors that are affected by almost 50% by piracy. As the national industry, by paying the tax burden it pays, with high labor charges, will be able to compete with this unfair competition? ”He asked.
"Only a cohesive work of the private initiative articulated with associations such as ABCF, Fiesp and the public power can curb these actions". (http://www.fiesp.com.br/noticias).
