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Camex (Chamber of Foreign Trade), a body linked to the Ministry of the Economy, decided today to zero the import tax rate for paddy rice and processed rice until December 31 of this year. The measure was taken to try to contain the rise in the price of rice, which has skyrocketed especially in recent weeks.
The decision was made during the VIII Extraordinary Meeting of Gecex (Executive Management Committee), at the proposal of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply.
The temporary reduction is restricted to the quota of 400 thousand tons, and will be applied to the products “uncooked husked rice” (code 1006.10.92) and “rice semi-stamped or bleached, no parabled “1006.30.21) of the Common Nomenclature of Mercosur (NCM).
Currently, tariffs of 12% are applied to processed grain and 10% to shell products to supplier countries outside Mercosur.
Among Gecex’s duties are to define import and export tariffs, establish trade defense measures, internalize rules of origin for trade agreements.
The Presidency of the Republic and the Ministries of Economy, Foreign Relations and Agriculture, Livestock and Supply are part of the committee.
Why have food prices skyrocketed?
Rice can cost R $ 40 in supermarkets. Beans, by type, rose more than 30% for the year, according to official inflation data. Long-life milk was 22.99% more expensive and soybean oil 18.63%.
According to analysts, some factors explain the increase in the price of basic foods:
- Dollar: The high dollar makes many producers prefer to export the products, earning in dollars, to sell them in the domestic market. With less food supply on the domestic market, prices here go up.
- Pandemic: Due to social isolation, food consumption outside the home was reduced and, consequently, purchases for consumption at home increased.
- Emergency help: The aid of 600 reais paid by the government was directed, in general, to the poorest population, who concentrate their purchases more on basic products, such as food.
- China: Due to the pandemic, countries are replenishing their food reserves, especially China, Brazil’s largest trading partner. Again, there are fewer products on the domestic market, which causes prices to go up.
- Fuel: Fuel prices are also increasing, making product distribution logistics more expensive.
Pulled by the price of food and gasoline, the country’s official inflation, measured by the IPCA (Broad Consumer Price Index), was 0.24% in August, the highest of the month since 2016, although it has decelerated in relation to July (0.36%), according to data published today by IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics).
Ministry notified supermarkets and producers
Also on Wednesday, the National Consumer Secretariat of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security announced that it had notified the Brazilian Association of Supermarkets and representatives of producers to explain the high prices of the foods that make up the basic basket. They have five days, from receipt of the notification, to provide clarification.
“We cannot talk about abusive prices without first evaluating the entire production chain and the fluctuations derived from the pandemic. For this reason, the Department of Consumer Protection and Defense issued letters to collect data that are necessary to evaluate any injustice”Said the national secretary of consumption, Juliana Domingues, in a note.
If there are concrete indications of price abuse, the secretariat said it could carry out an investigation and apply administrative sanctions to cases such as “violations of consumer rights.” Fines can exceed R $ 10 million, he added.
Bolsonaro asked businessmen “patriotism”
In an attempt to mitigate the situation, President Jair Bolsonaro (without a party) demanded “patriotism” from businessmen when setting prices for gondolas. On Tuesday, it said it asked retailers to sell essential products with a “close to zero” profit margin.
The Minister of Agriculture, Tereza Cristina, said yesterday that the government would lower the price of rice and denied the possibility that the product was missing from the shelves. Even so, some supermarkets in the Campinas region, in the interior of São Paulo, have limited the number of packages of rice per customer.
In an interview with CNN Brazil on Tuesday night, the minister said that her portfolio has been monitoring stocks of agricultural products. “Our great concern is that there is no shortage of food in supermarkets,” she said.
He said the next rice crop, which is beginning to be planted now, will help reduce supply problems. “This rice begins to be harvested in January, in mid-January it is already being harvested, and we will have a much larger harvest … next year we will have a much larger stock of rice,” he said.
The Ministry of Agriculture had already said in late August that it was evaluating the possibility of temporarily waiving tariffs on imports of rice, corn and soybeans from non-Mercosur countries to balance the domestic market and avoid price increases.
* With Reuters
