São Paulo City Hall implements project to combat the illegal market

Initiative unites municipal, state and federal agencies and has the participation of ETCO and other entities that fight against smuggling, piracy and counterfeiting of products

Smuggling, piracy and other forms of illegal trade harm companies that operate legally, destroy jobs, finance criminal organizations, take products with no quality control to citizens and reduce government tax collections, harming public services.

Despite so many evils, the fight against these crimes is not usually as rigorous as it should be - neither at the borders, where gangs move large amounts of cargo clandestinely, nor in the areas of popular commerce in large cities, where the sale of pirated products and smuggled goods usually happen in the open.

In the main capital of the country, however, the history of leniency may have its days numbered. The city of São Paulo decided to join forces with the Movement for the Defense of the Brazilian Legal Market, which has the support of 70 entities and is coordinated by ETCO and the National Forum Against Piracy and Illegality (FNCP), in the creation of the Legality Movement with the objective of intensifying the fight against smuggling in the capital.

The initiative consists of coordinated actions to combat illegal trade involving the inspection bodies of the City Hall and also the State (Civil and Military police, Sanitary Surveillance, Procon and Ipem) and the Union (Federal Revenue, Federal Police, Anvisa and ANP).

Based on the pioneering experience of the city of São Paulo, the project, which already has the support of the National Front of Mayors, will be implemented in other municipalities in the coming months. Porto Alegre and Campinas have already joined.

ETCO's president, Edson Vismona, believes that the decision of the São Paulo City Hall to adopt the project will have important effects on the reduction of illegal trade in the city and should become a reference for the rest of the country. According to him, in recent years, the municipality has come adopting a permissive attitude towards the sale of pirated or smuggled products to both end consumers and resellers. “São Paulo is an important distribution center for illegal products throughout Brazil,” he says. "Legal market defense entities have long claimed a more forceful attitude on the part of the public administration - and now it has come."

THE SIZE OF THE PROBLEM

Smuggling, piracy and counterfeiting of products produce huge losses for manufacturers and traders who respect the laws and public coffers. According to a survey carried out by the FNCP, last year, in the city of São Paulo alone, these crimes generated more than R $ 9 billion in losses for 16 productive sectors - among the most affected are software, audiovisual, tobacco, clothing, fuels, medicines and cosmetics. The activity caused R $ 4,5 billion in tax evasion, money equivalent to two years of budget in municipal daycare centers and enough to maintain the program of free distribution of medicines to the population of São Paulo for 15 years.

One of the main smuggled products is cigarettes: currently, 35% of the entire market in the capital is dominated by illegal brands, mainly of Paraguayan origin. In 2016, 5 billion units of illegal cigarettes were sold.

The ETCO president notes that financial damage is only part of the problem. He recalls that products that arrive on the market in a clandestine manner do not pass the inspection filters that protect the health of the population. And he points out that the illegal consumer goods market fuels organized crime and finances drug and arms trafficking, increasing the rates of violence.

“We are going to work together with the City Hall to combat these evils that so many losses bring to our city,” said Vismona at the launching ceremony of the Legality Movement, on September 15th. “The violence that is on the streets and that scares us is financed by these crimes. To fight against this is to fight for the life and dignity of the people of São Paulo. The Municipality of São Paulo is taking the lead, but the time has come to join forces with all Brazilian municipalities in search of solutions for the illegal market. ”

ML SÃO PAULO LOSES

NOW THE LAW WILL BE FULFILLED

On the occasion, the mayor of São Paulo, João Doria, thanked the partnership with ETCO and the Brazilian Legal Market Partnership Movement and promised to act strictly. "The time for leniency is over," said Doria, who criticized the demagogic discourse of justifying tolerance with sellers of smuggled products for considering them victims of unemployment (read on page XX). "From now on, in the city of São Paulo the law will be enforced."

Federal Deputy Efraim Filho (DEM-PB), president of the Parliamentary Front to Combat Smuggling, praised the adhesion of the São Paulo City Hall to the project. According to him, the great challenge to fight against the illegal market is not to change or create new laws. "Changing the law is perhaps the easiest part - the cold letter of the law on a page of paper," he said. “Our great challenge is to change the culture, because the culture of tolerance that exists with these small crimes ends up putting us in an absolutely paradoxical situation, especially in Brazil today, where we all know what is right, but we must have courage to do right, as São Paulo is doing. ”

 

Legality Movement arrives in Porto Alegre

Edson Vismona, president of ETCO and FNCP, representing the Movement in Defense of the Brazilian Legal Market, launched with Mayor Nelson Marchezan, last Monday (18/12), the Legality Movement.

The Movement foresees coordinated actions to combat the illegal market (smuggling, piracy, counterfeiting), integrating the bodies of the City Hall, Federal Police, Federal Revenue, Federal Highway Police, Military Brigade and Civil Police. Various Civil Society entities such as FECOMERCIO / RS, SINDILOJAS, Associação Comercial, FIERGS and FEDERASUL support this initiative, which will also stimulate public awareness actions so that they do not purchase illegal products.

Porto Alegre is the fourth city to join the Legality Movement. São Paulo, Recife and Campinas are already part of the project.

The initiative had extensive press coverage. See the main articles here:

Hour_Um

 

Shopkeepers charge increased inspection of pirated products sold in Porto Alegre (Jornal Hora Um - Rede Globo)

 

 

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Porto Alegre joins the campaign against illegal merchandise trade, Jornal Zero Hora

 

 

Legality Movement arrives in Porto Alegre

Porto Alegre Legality MovementO Brazilian Institute of Competitive Ethics (ETCO) and the National Forum Against Piracy and Illegality (FNCP), in partnership with Porto Alegre City Hall and National Mayors Front, launch on the day  on December 18, Monday, at 10 am, at the Porto Alegre City Hall, the Legality Movement.

During the event, unpublished data on smuggling in the city and the main actions of the Legality Movement, which aims to combat smuggling, counterfeiting and piracy effectively and forcefully, contributing to the development of society, the generation of jobs and income and the security of all Porto Alegre residents.

After the launching ceremony, two activities will take place: the inauguration of the contraband city exhibition na Pinacoteca Aldo Locatelli, a model made with seized products; and the destruction of products seized on Rua Uruguai, to be coordinated by Mayor Nelson Marchezan.

Launch of the Legality Movement

Order date: December 18, 2017 (Friday)

Open Hours: 10 hours

Location: Porto Alegre City Hall (Salão Nobre)

Address: Montevideo Square, 10 - Centro Histórico, Porto Alegre

Legality Movement in Campinas

Correio Popular, 01/12/2017

by Jonas Donizeti

Campinas is taking an important step in the fight against organized crime and illegal trade: the launch of the Legality Movement, which will promote the union of forces between the National Front of Mayors (FNP), the City of Campinas and civil society to fight the market illegal and the routing effectively and forcefully.
This should be the flag of all Brazilian municipalities, and the partnership between FNP, the Municipality of Campinas, the (ETCO) and the National Forum Against Piracy and Illegality (FNCP), is a sign of our management's commitment to this objective.
About 70 business entities and civil society organizations affected by these illegal smuggling practices support the initiative. The movement has already been launched in São Paulo and will be replicated to other Brazilian municipalities, to build a more developed society, with more jobs, security, income, collection and quality public services.
In Campinas, only in 2016, the sale of smuggled and pirated products generated a tax evasion of R $ 850 million to municipal public coffers, a value that could be reverted to the benefit of the population in the form of more health, education, transportation, security.
In Brazil, smuggling and counterfeiting of products caused a loss of R $ 130 billion. The fight against trade in smuggled and pirated goods is complex, as it involves the alignment of forces from the federal, state and municipal governments. But the source of this problem has a powerful economic component: the huge tax disparity between Brazil and neighboring countries fuels this traffic, especially coming from Paraguay, responsible for most of the products that enter the country illegally.
The illegal cigarette trade, the leading contraband in the. city, as in the rest of the country, is an example of the negative impact on society.
Brazilian manufacturers, who pay up to 86% of taxes, are obliged to live with unfair competition from Paraguayan companies taxed at a bankrupt 16%. This caused the smuggling of the product in Campinas to reach 48% this year, an increase of 11 percentage points in relation to last year. But smuggling does not only bring financial losses to the city.
The activity is one of the main forms of financing for criminal organizations, which dominate their commercialization throughout the country, and also serves to mask other criminal modalities, since smuggled products often enter Brazil together with weapons and drugs. In addition, illegal products have no quality control and do not follow Brazilian inspection, putting the health of the population at risk.
Combating illegal trade is a measure of respect for those who work correctly, respect for the issue of taxes so that the public power is able to provide better services to the population.

It is important to make it clear that popular and illegal trade should not be confused. Nothing against popular commerce. Everything against illegal. This is the message we want to get across. In assuming the public commitment to make the fight against the illegal market a priority, the City Hall. shows that, although complex, the problem can and must be faced. Only then will we put not only Campinas, but Brazil as a whole, on the path of development, legality and justice.

Jonas Donizeti is mayor of Campinas and president of FNP - National Front of Mayors

Recife loses R $ 800 million with contraband

Mayor Geraldo Julio signs commitment to fight smuggling
Mayor Geraldo Julio signs commitment to fight smuggling

Per year, Pernambuco loses approximately R $ 100 million in taxes not collected, related to the contraband cigarette market. In Recife alone, illegal products generated losses of R $ 800 million for the productive sectors during the past year and, currently, 50% of the city's cigarette market is already dominated by these products, coming from countries like Paraguay, which here they are sold below R $ 5, the minimum price established by law.

An articulation of the National Front of Mayors, the Brazilian Institute of Ethics in Competition (Etco) and the National Forum Against Piracy and Illegality, together with the government, proposes actions to combat the problem through the Legality Movement. Yesterday, the mayor of Recife, Geraldo Júlio, signed a term of adhesion to the movement, during the 72nd meeting of the National Front of Mayors, at the headquarters of Sebrae, in Ilha do Retiro. Recife is the second capital of the country to sign a commitment to intensify actions against the illegal market. The first was São Paulo.

“Just like the city of São Paulo, Recife has a profile of a gateway for goods to other locations,” said Etco President Edson Vismona, recalling that these routes are related to drug and arms trafficking, and crime financing . “By curbing the trade in illegal products, we also strengthen local businesses and jobs. Pernambuco is a center of textile and software production, but how to invest if companies buy pirated software and nothing happens? ”, He asked.

The Legality Movement suggests on five fronts of action: measures aimed at removing illegal products; a sustainable movement for their use and disposal; the simplification of practices that discourage formalization; the education of traders and even awareness campaigns for the population. However, the city of Recife did not release a plan. “It is, above all, an awareness role. Inspection is more with the Federal Revenue Service ”, said Geraldo Júlio. On the other hand, the mayor stressed efforts to facilitate the opening of companies, such as the creation of an online system that integrates information from the city hall, Jucepe and the IRS, allowing the opening of companies in 72 hours.

Recife signs adherence to the Legality Movement during the 72nd general meeting of the National Mayors Front

From 27 to 29 November, mayors and managers from all over the country will meet in Recife / PE to work on common themes of the municipalities. The agenda is the 72nd General Meeting of the National Front of Mayors (FNP), whose program was developed to deal with tax reform and subsidize the construction of an initial document, which will be improved and delivered in 2018 to candidates for the presidency of the Republic and Congress National.

During the meeting, the president of FNCP and ETCO, coordinating the Legality Movement, signed with the Mayor of Recife, Geraldo Julio, the term of commitment to encourage the defense of the legal market, to combat smuggling, counterfeiting and piracy in the city. Recife is the second capital to sign this commitment, after São Paulo.FNP REEF 2

 

São Paulo City Hall intensifies inspection of irregular trade

In an interview with CBN São Paulo, Edson Vismona, President of ETCO comments on the Legality Movement, led by the Municipality of São Paulo and supported by ETCO, FNCP and 70 other entities, which intensifies the fight against the illegal market in the city of São Paulo.

Listen here:

Legality Movement wants to intensify fight against illegal trade in São Paulo

City Hall launches program to combat smuggling and piracy in partnership with Movement in Defense of the Brazilian Legal Market

The City Hall and the Movement in Defense of the Brazilian Legal Market, coordinated by the Brazilian Institute of Competition Ethics (ETCO) and the National Forum Against Piracy and Illegality (FNCP), launched this Friday (15) the Legality Movement. The program intends to intensify the fight against smuggling, counterfeiting and piracy in the capital of São Paulo, and it also takes place in partnership with more than 70 business entities and civil society organizations affected by these illegal practices.

The Legality Movement represents the union of forces between civil society and public authorities to build a more developed city, with a greater number of jobs, security, income, collection and focused on combating the illegal market. In addition to the City Hall, state bodies (military and civil police, Sanitary Surveillance, Procon and Ipem) and the Union (Federal Revenue, Federal Police, Anvisa and ANP) are part of the movement.

The city of São Paulo will be the first to adopt this project. With the support of the National Front of Mayors, other municipalities are expected to adopt this program in the coming months. The Legality Movement's activities will be divided into the following fronts:

  • Restructuring of the Integrated Management Office (GGI), which brings together bodies from the City Hall, the State and the Union to debate and define strategies for actions on various topics, including consumer fraud and illegal trade.
  • Creation of the Legal Market Defense Committee, linked to the GGI: it has the mission of identifying the centers of sales, distribution and deposits of illegal products, defining the actions of intelligence and combating illegal practices that generate losses to the treasury, consumer and legal and formal companies.
  • Sustainable movement to take advantage of seizures and dispose of products: partnership with trade associations, third sector entities and public authorities to define the destination of seizures.
  • Education of the trader on illegal practices, their impacts and threats to productive activities.
  • Simplification of practices and attitudes that create barriers to commercial activity and encourage informality.
  • Communication / media campaign to inform about these initiatives.

“We are going to simplify the life of the citizen and the entrepreneur so that everyone is within the law, without bureaucracy or legal uncertainty,” explained Paulo Uebel, Municipal Secretary of Management, about an ongoing project that gathers and simplifies the laws that deal with municipal attitudes - norms that aim to guarantee harmonious coexistence between citizens in urban spaces. In addition, the municipal departments of Urban Security and Regional City Halls will work together to expand the inspection and assessment of irregularities.

Losses generated by illegal trade

According to a survey carried out by the National Forum Against Piracy and Illegality (FNCP), in 2016, in São Paulo alone, smuggling, counterfeiting and piracy generated more than R $ 9 billion in losses in 16 productive sectors such as tobacco, clothing, fuels and cosmetics. With this loss, the city lost around R $ 4,5 billion in tax evasion due to the trade in illegal products, according to FNCP estimates.

The amount of R $ 4,5 billion lost in tax evasion, according to figures estimated by the FNCP, represents for the City of São Paulo the equivalent of the budget of social organizations for the management and administration of hospitals, UBS and doctors in 1 year or twice of the daycare budget also in 1 year or 15 years (180 months) of medicine purchases.

The losses also affect sectors such as the bakery. Per year, he loses R $ 56,7 million in revenue, according to data from SindiPan. The sector could generate up to 40 thousand new jobs if there were no illegal trade.

The main contraband product is cigarettes, with 35% of all markets currently dominated by illegal brands, mainly of Paraguayan origin. In 2016, 5 billion units of illegal cigarettes were sold.

In addition to financial damage, the illegal market fuels organized crime and finances drug and arms trafficking, increasing the rates of violence. Illegal products do not have quality control and do not follow Brazilian inspection, affecting the health of the whole society.

During the launch of the Legality Movement, the destruction of illegal products will be made, including CDs, DVDs, cigarettes, toys, among others, which pose serious risks to the health and safety of society, in addition to damage to the economy of City.

Also as part of the activities, the mini-exhibition “Cidade do Contrabando” (City of Contraband) will be presented in the hall of the City Hall, which simulates all possible improvements if smuggling and trade in illegal products were extinguished in the city and the money invested in favor of society.

“We are going to work together with the City Hall to combat the smuggling of products that affect and damage our city so much. The violence that is on the street and that frightens us is financed by these crimes. To fight against this is to fight for the life and dignity of the people of São Paulo. The city of São Paulo is taking the lead, but the time has come to join forces with all Brazilian municipalities in search of solutions for the illegal market ”, says Edson Vismona, president of the Brazilian Institute of Ethics in Competition (ETCO)

The Mayor of São Paulo, João Dória, the president of the National Front of Mayors and Mayor of Campinas, Jonas Donizette, the Deputy Secretary of Regional City Halls, Fabio Lepique, the President of the Parliamentary Front were present at the launch event of the Legality Movement. Fight against Smuggling, Federal Deputy Efraim Filho, ETCO President, Edson Vismona and former Minister of Development, Industry and Trade and also ETCO advisor, Luiz Fernando Furlan.